OUR MUNICIPAL SANTA CRUZ WHARF, 1906. The penciled notes on the back of this excellent photo say, ” Commercial fishing Santa Cruz wharf. Steve Ghio with cap holding a 50 pound deep sea bass. Steve Canepa holding fish basket’. All of this tradition and history and authenicity is being sold out by our current City Council with the goal of attracting more tourist bucks. Is it worth it? Ask your favorite Council candidate.                                                        photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection. Additional information always welcome: email bratton@cruzio.com

DATELINE April 25, 2016

KUSP’S DEBT. The station is in deep trouble as we’ve all heard. On Wednesday May 4th. Their board is going to decide on one of these ideas… *if their fund drive doesn’t raise the money by April 30 they will either  

1. approve a potential loan which would be collateralized by the sale of Pataphysical Broadcasting Foundation, Inc.’s major assets.
2. approve a potential sale of the major assets of the Pataphysical Broadcasting Foundation, Inc.

This data is from their Treasurer’s report…

The expenses of the station on a “bare bones” basis are about $60,000 a month. Absent significant new revenues in April of $50-$100K we will be out of cash and unable to make payroll sometime in May.

• $170,000 Secured Loans
• $90,000 Unsecured loans from individuals or guaranteed by individuals
• $260,000 Total “debt”
• $450,000 Unpaid programming fees (NPR, APM, Pacifica)
• $70,000 Unpaid accounts payable including vacation payable
• $780,000 Total liabilities or obligations of KUSP at March 31, 2016.

In case you missed it…that’s $170,000 KUSP owes our Santa Cruz Community Credit Union. AND a debt of $780,000 total. As their treasurer states in the report…” Even if the debt were forgiven, we still need to have the cash every month for the $60,000 in operating expenses”. Now go and turn on KUSP…is that what you think is a Santa Cruz Station?

VERIZON ON SUNDAY MORNINGS. Since becoming an iPhone owner I’ve got thousands of questions on how to use it. I went to two group classes at the  Apple Store in Los Gatos. That worked fine. Last week the greeters at the Verizon store which, contrary to the 100 Cooper Street address they list on their website, is really at/in the 1300 block on Pacific Avenue…they told me that they have an open session every Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m. to help Verizon/Apple users. I’ll meet you there.

NANCY RANEY THE SOUL OF THE NICKELODEON. Nancy Raney died last week, she was partners with husband Bill of the Nickelodeon until they sold it in 1997. Like KUSP in the early years, the Cooperhouse, and the Catalyst, the Nickelodeon was a real and genuine part of our community. It was Nancy who made it feel real. As a thank you to the local film family Nancy went to enormous pains to have the famous “Babette’s Feast” (from the 1987 film) re-created in the Casablanca Restaurant just for us. More than that, she presided over every weekly critic’s screening sessions with personal touches that none of us will ever forget. She was fun, kind, smart, and happy…and that’s getting more rare nowadays. She is very much missed.

DRONE. A special film. [THIS SATURDAY AT THE VETS HALL]

Theme: America’s Drone Program: The Dark Realities of Modern Warfare. Intimate stories from the secret CIA drone war on terror. People living under drones in Pakistan and drone pilots struggling with killing via joysticks in the US in the biggest targeted assassination program in history. And the people willing to stand up against the violations of civil liberties and fight for transparency, accountability and justice.

Speaker: Ray McGovern, retired CIA analyst and intelligence expert
Event Hosts: VFW Post 5888, Veterans For Peace, People United for Peace.

Saturday, April 30…7 pm • Chris Matthews Hall in the Vets Memorial Building, 846 Front Street, Santa Cruz.

See it, and go see Eye In The Sky starring Helen Mirren which is also a fine film. Go here to learn more about the USA’s role in this…    

ELERICK’S INPUT. Mr. Paul Elerick of Aptos writes…

MUSICAL REMEMBRANCES.

Driving home from Hollister with daughter and grandson, the conversation turned to music and Prince’s untimely death.  Here we were, three generations talking about one of the greatest musical artists that ever lived, and all three of us could appreciate him.  There have been many more losses of favorite entertainers, but Prince pointed out how much we lose when we take great people for granted, assuming they’ll be around forever.

We need the three miles of auxiliary lanes on Highway 1

Tuesday afternoon the Santa Cruz City Council will be voting (sometime after 4PM- 4/26) on whether or not to support the RTC’s transportation tax measure, now being called their Transportation Improvement Plan (TRIP).  It’s important to know what will be lost if TRIP loses, it’s all in the link to the RTC above.  If you care about funding a balanced transportation tax measure, listen to the arguments for and against it, and let the Council know how you feel.  

TRIP’s opponents have tried to build their case by referring to the auxiliary lanes as simply more  “highway widening” and will contribute to deathly global warming. They have done their best to kill the tax measure by gathering petition signatures for a plan that has basically no money for the highway, ignoring the fact that people still drive cars and will continue to do so. Think Congestion Relief and the fact that our South County neighbors will benefit from the auxiliary lanes, as well as people that live in mid-county who will be arriving home earlier when the auxiliary lanes are built.

(Paul Elerick is a member of, and former co-chair of the Campaign for Sensible Transportation, http://sensibletransportation.org . He’s a current member of Nisene to Sea, a group of mid-county citizens committed to maintaining an open hiking trail from Cabrillo College to Nisene Marks State Park

GREENSITE’S INSIGHT.

THE HUMAN FOLLY OF MASSIVE TREE REMOVAL

While there is some good news in that the courts ruled against the city’s weakening its Heritage Tree Ordinance, other recent decisions spell disaster for our remaining big trees.

Last week the California Coastal Commission voted unanimously to reject the appeal  of a project spearheaded by the California Department of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW) and the Elkhorn Slough Reserve, to cut down 1225 eucalyptus trees which live in 4 separate groves in Elkhorn Slough. The fact that 75 of the trees are over 3 feet in diameter, that the groves provide habitat to a wide range of birds, vertebrate and invertebrate animals, bats and bees didn’t pass muster for their protection. The trees will be felled, herbicide painted on the stumps (despite their being within 100 feet of a wetland and 1.5 miles of a Monarch habitat) all in the hopes for “habitat restoration.” Destroying a habitat to restore a habitat, a goal that has few success stories, makes little sense in an era of ever increasing carbon dioxide build-up in the atmosphere. Large trees sequester the most carbon. All trees give us oxygen. It is folly to expect small seedlings to take root in the 6 inches of wood chips that will remain after the present trees are cut down and to reach the carbon sequestration potential of the removed trees in the short time we have left to reduce atmospheric carbon. Never mind the machinery and energy that will be expended to cut down and chip over a thousand trees.

Another project that will result in thousands of tree removals in our county is spearheaded by PG&E. The project involves the removal of all trees and bushes within 14 feet of underground gas transmission pipelines. Petunias can stay. This is a 24 feet diameter cleared zone and impacts public and private property. It will remove many trees in our city. The real devastation will be evident along Graham Hill Road where the project will result in the removal of hundreds of large trees such as Ponderosa Pines and Redwoods along the Graham Hill Rd. pipeline.

The stated purpose is safety and access for first responders should there be a gas pipe problem, requiring repair. The fact that there is not one single example of a tree causing a problem with a gas transmission line in 30 years of documentation nation-wide; the fact that removing trees may cause a water build-up around the pipes, causing corrosion; the fact that fire trucks and engines operate from the street and gas should be shut off and gas abated before any internal combustion engine appears on the scene fail to deter PG&E from its campaign which has met widespread opposition in other counties, for example Palo Alto. A group of us met with PG&E representatives and Bruce McPherson, chair of the Board of Supervisors in his office to express concerns and present counter evidence for such a devastating project. PG&E gave many assurances that have since proven to be untrue. The first test for how our city responds will be at Tuesday’s council meeting (4/26/16). The decision was made to agendize it as a “presentation” from PG&E, which allows for NO public comment. This seems a sure sign that the city wants no public opposition. Other cities are not taking this lying down. Why is Santa Cruz?

(Gillian Greensite is a long time local activist, a member of Save Our Big Trees and the Santa Cruz chapter of IDA, International Dark Sky Association  http://darksky.org    Plus she’s an avid ocean swimmer, hiker and lover of all things wild).

PATTON’S PROGRAM.

There is a “Special” meeting of the Santa Cruz Planning Commission Thursday April 28, and it’s important. The City of Santa Cruz suffered from a major earthquake in October 1989. Large portions of downtown Santa Cruz were destroyed. Almost amazingly, the City bounced back, and in deciding how to rebuild, the community debated, at length, over the issue of building heights along Pacific Avenue, the main downtown shopping street. It is a bit of an oversimplification, but property owners generally wanted to be able to build very tall structures, reasoning that they could finance reconstruction better if their property were more developable. The community at large, while sympathetic, wanted to preserve a more human scale for the downtown, and compromises were made on both sides, with the result you can see today. The downtown is vital, and thriving (not that there aren’t problems).

The plan that governed the rebuilding of downtown was called the “Downtown Recovery Plan.” Tomorrow, the City Planning Commission is going to consider amendments that would allow much taller structures on Pacific Avenue, between Cathcart and Laurel Streets, and on Front Street between Soquel Avenue and Laurel Street. Big, downtown residential structures would be built, if the standards are changed.If you care, you had better get involved now. The meeting is at 7:00 p.m. Thursday (4/28), in the City Council Chambers. Get more information at kusp.org/landuse.

Let’s talk about “Community Voices” and community choices. Recently, the Land Use Report has been part of KUSP’s “Community Voices” series, whichalso includes”First Person Singular,” a program that presents KUSP listeners with an opportunity to hear unique voices from the Monterey Bay Region. I truly appreciate the fact that KUSP has featured the Land Use Report for so many years. The first edition of the Land Use Report aired on July 28, 2001. That means that the Land Use Report has now been heard on KUSP for fourteen years, nine months, and three days. I don’t know how much longer KUSP listeners will be able to hear the Land Use Report. The station is facing major economic challenges, and there is a “May Day” campaign underway right now. If you want to keep KUSP community radio on the air, today would definitely be a good time to step up and contribute. As usual, I have a link in today’s transcript, at kusp.org/landuse. Whatever the fate of KUSP’s community voices programming, I hope listeners will remember the basic message of the Land Use Report. Here it is: Land use decisions will determine our future, and the choice is ours. Community choices can create the kind of future we want. Get engaged. Get involved. And get going! Read the complete scripts of the above at Gary Patton’s KUSP Land Use site http://blogs.kusp.org/landuse . Gary is a former Santa Cruz County Supervisor (20 years) and an attorney who represents indivuduals and community groups on land use and environmental issues. The opinions expressed are Mr. Patton’s. Gary has his own website, Two Worlds/365” – www.gapatton.net

CLASSICAL DeCINZO. DeCinzo visits the Monterey Bay Aquarium…again. Check it out.

EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. Eagan gets a charge from our electric car’s future!!! See below…

THREE (3) ONSCREEN OPERA SERIES IN SANTA CRUZ.  First, we had and have the Metropolitan Opera series on Saturday mornings at the Regal Cinema 9. Then Landmark brought and brings us the All’Italia series at the Del Mar…which is really great. Last week I wrote…”The new (4 months now) Landmark chain is bringing filmed versions of live opera performances from opera houses around Italy to our Del Mar screen on Pacific Avenue. I can’t find many details and the production company All’ Opera Italia’s website is all in Italian. The spring series starts April 26 with Barber of Seville from Torino, Cerentola from Rome (May 25), La Favorita from Venice (7/27) that’ll be sung in French,  and La Fanciulla del West from La Scala on August 10.The rest of them are sung in Italian with English subtitles and start at 7 p.m. The usual Santa Cruz tuxs and tiara’s are expected. Now Landmark is presenting Five operas from the Royal Opera House in London. This series will be at The Nickelodeon.!!! It’s started already with; 4/24 at 11am: Boris Godunov.  5/1 at 11am:  Giselle. 5/22 at 11am: Lucia di Lammermoor. 6/12 at 11am: The Sleeping Beauty. 7/24 at 11am: Werther. BUY TICKETS. Go here for some details. Now all we have to do is support this incredible addition to our arts scene.

RARE & SPECIAL SITAR CONCERT. UCSC’s Music Department presents  Ustad Shujaat Khan, sitar, who returns to UC Santa Cruz for a concert of classical Indian music. With Dibyarka Chatterjee, tabla, and Abhiman Kaushal, tabla. Ustad Shujaat Husain Khan is perhaps the greatest North Indian classical musician of his generation. He belongs to the Imdad Khan gharana (tradition) of the sitar (lute) and is the seventh in the unbroken line from his family that has produced many musical masters. His style known as the gayaki ang, is imitative of the subtleties of the human voice. Khan is the son and disciple of master sitarist Ustad Vilayat Khan. His musical pedigree continues back through his grandfather, Ustad Inayat Khan; his great-grandfather, Ustad Imdad Khan; and his great-great-grandfather, Ustad Sahebdad Khan—all leading artists of their generations. Saturday, April 30, 2016 – 7:30pm Music Center Recital Hall, UCSC. Purchase tickets online (account must be created with University Tickets) or at the UCSC Ticket Office at the Theater Arts Center. Hours of Operation: Wednesdays/Thursdays 12:00-noon – 3:00pm Phone: (831) 4 59-2159 * Tickets also for sale at the Recital Hall, 1 hour prior to performance *

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “Please join me in bidding a heartfelt farewell to Nancy Raney, the godmother of the Santa Cruz movie community, this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com). Longtime co-owner of the Nickelodeon, tireless supporter of film, books, and culture, world traveler, and lifelong adventurer, Nancy’s high spirits and buoyant personality will be sorely missed in this town.” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. I host Universal Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer, (live only or archived for two weeks… (See next paragraph) and go to WWW.KZSC.ORG. Andrew Austin tells us about UCSC’s latest development plans on April 26. He’s followed by The Reel Work Film Festival’s Camille Walker. The bi-annual KZSC Pledge Drive

happens May 3 with County Supervisor John Leopold co-hosting and Sandy Lydon co-hosts for pledges on May 10. On May 17 Brian Spencer from the See Theatre talks about T. McNally’s play, “Mothers and Sons“. He’s followed by Becky Steinbruner discussing Aptos issues

and the legal measures in her lawsuit. Anita Monga artistic Director of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival (21st Year) returns May 24. Mark Wainer and Judy Johnson talk about the Community of Artists show on May 31st. The Short Story Winners from Bookshop Santa Cruz take over the June 14 program. Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening. Email me always and only at bratton@cruzio.com   

NEW UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVE FEATURE. Stuff changes at KZSC a lot. If you missed either of the last two weeks of Universal Grapevine broadcasts go here… http://www.radiofreeamerica.com/dj/bruce-bratton You have to listen to about 4 minutes of that week’s KPFA news first, then Grapevine happens.

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES. In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 9 years here’s a chronological list of some past broadcasts.  Such a wide range of folks such as  Nikki Silva, Michael Warren, Tom Noddy, UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal, Anita Monga, Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson-Darrow, Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld, Rachel Goodman, George Newell, Tubten Pende, Gina Marie Hayes, Rebecca Ronay-Hazleton, Miriam Ellis, Deb Mc Arthur, The Great Morgani on Street performing, and Paul Whitworth on Krapps Last Tape. Jodi McGraw on Sandhills, Bruce Daniels on area water problems. Mike Pappas on the Olive Connection, Sandy Lydon on County History. Paul Johnston on political organizing, Rick Longinotti on De-Sal. Dan Haifley on Monterey Bay Sanctuary, Dan Harder on Santa Cruz City Museum. Sara Wilbourne on Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. Brian Spencer on SEE Theatre Co. Paula Kenyon and Karen Massaro on MAH and Big Creek  Pottery. Carolyn Burke on Edith Piaf. Peggy Dolgenos on Cruzio. Julie James on Jewel Theatre Company. Then there’s Pat Matejcek on environment, Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack on the Universe plus Nina Simon from MAH, Rob Slawinski, Gary Bascou, Judge Paul Burdick, John Brown Childs, Ellen Kimmel, Don Williams, Kinan Valdez, Ellen Murtha, John Leopold, Karen Kefauver, Chip Lord, Judy Bouley, Rob Sean Wilson, Ann Simonton, Lori Rivera, Sayaka Yabuki, Chris Kinney, Celia and Peter Scott, Chris Krohn, David Swanger, Chelsea Juarez…and that’s just since January 2011.

QUOTES. WHALES…

“Nature did not put whales on this earth to splash kids while stuck in a pen”, Jane Velez-Mitchell

“Ships are expendable; the whales are not,” Paul Watson

“By the end of the 20th century, up to 90 percent of the sharks, tuna, swordfish, marlins, groupers, turtles, whales, and many other large creatures that prospered in the Gulf for millions of years had been depleted by overfishing”, Sylvia Earle

OUR HISTORIC MUNICIPAL WHARF. (1914) . Two of our historic wharves with these mostly Genovese fishermen and their nets. We lost the wharf on the left and now Cynthia Mathews and her pro-growth associates on the Santa Cruz City Council want to destroy any semblence or authenticity our wharf has or had and make it into another touristy Pier 39. photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection. Additional information always welcome: email bratton@cruzio.com

DATELINE April 18, 2016

DOWNTOWN HOSTS…MORE ABOUT THE ENDING. I ran this in  BrattonOnline 4/04/16…

“SANTA CRUZ DOWNTOWN HOSPITALITY HOST PROGRAM ENDING!!!
In spite of the favorable opinions from almost everybody those yellow jacketed Hospitality Hosts vanish as of June 30. As of right now it’s stated …because the contracts weren’t renewed. Paid for by Santa Cruz Businesses and property owners the program is run by the Downtown Management Corporation. The Downtown Management Corporation (online) has probably old data on it, with names like Ceil Cirillo, Bonnie Lipscomb, and Peter Prindle. Anyways we’ll miss those dedicated Pacific Avenue trekkers”

Since then I talked with Gina Rodrigues who has been heading our Downtown Host program since 1998. (It started in 1994) She wants to pursue other career moves. No one wanted to take over her job and no Downtown or City officials wanted to keep this extra friendly face of Santa Cruz in operation. The Hosts did and do more positive actions than any Don Lane Bearcat. The Host program is finished  June 30th. We’ll miss ’em.

ARANA GULCH, WHAT IT COST US. Jean Brocklebank reports in with…

Friends of Arana Gulch (FOAG) recently requested an accounting to see how much was spent to build everything associated with Broadway-Brommer, a bike transportation project through the heart of the Arana Gulch Greenbelt. The draft figure I received from the Department of Public Works stands at $7,185,000 and includes the extra paved route from Agnes St. to connect to Broadway-Brommer ($515,000).  This will be reported to the City Council in the General CIP Fund (Capital Improvement Program) now in preparation.  

Some have charged that Friends of Arana Gulch is responsible for the exorbitant cost of the project.  This is not true!  In order to get its transportation project accepted by the CA Coastal Commission, the CA Dept. of Fish & Wildlife and the public, the City had to change the name (and therefore the essence) of the project.  No longer a transportation project (originally in the Gas Tax Fund, not the General CIP Fund), Broadway Brommer magically became an “interpretive trail” dependent on the natural resources of Arana Gulch (especially the endangered SC tarplant).  This funny-nose-and-glasses disguise worked but greatly increased the cost of the bike shortcut through AG.  

FREE SHAMU!!! I was awe struck (actually dumb struck) at the reactions by some long time friends to my running the clip of Shamu the Orca at Marine World. They actually thought and accused me of supporting Marine World’s cruel and unusual treatment of that poor Orca. I’ve been writing for years that we should close down all Marine World type side shows. I’ve been trying to convince readers that we should demand the closing of all Aquariums and zoos. Yes, close The Monterey Bay Aquarium. Even John Sandidge agrees with me about the cruelty on display at the Monterey Bay Aquarium…and all zoos too. That definitely includes the San Diego Zoo!!!  I’ve also printed and compared photos of big strong fishermen photos holding up their catches with hunters not daring to display photos of same age fawns and does shot illegally. I was trying to show by that Shamu video just how cruel the display of marine creatures really is. Next time I’ll include a caption so there’ll be no doubt. Just ask yourself if even the lowly jelly fish have any reactions at all,  or do you think the marine victims in their “touch tank”  really like living in the Monterey Bay Aquarium???

DON LANE’S BEARCAT ON DUTY SATURDAY NIGHT. The Don Lane Bearcat passed me about 7:20 p.m. Saturday night with siren screaming. It was going north on Laurel and turned west on Mission.  The Sentinel report says it went up to Western Drive to deal with a suicide on Beachview Avenue. It is one scary vehicle!!! All black, no police insignia anywhere. This is the second time our law enforcement has used the Don Lane Bearcat since October of last year. What a bargain!!!

DILIP BASU SERVICE. Dilip Basu of UCSC shed this mortal coil and a memorial gathering for the UC Santa Cruz community will take place on Thursday, May 26, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on campus at the Merrill Provost House. Individuals wishing to share memories about Professor Basu’s contributions to UCSC should contact Terry Burke at eburke@ucsc.edu to secure a place on the program.

MICHAEL MOORE LOST WEIGHT. Cedar Geiger, an integral part of our local Pulse Producations tells me that the now world famed Michael Moore has lost a huge amount of weight. More than that as most folks know Moore will be here at the Civic in Santa Cruz on May 14. See his new thinner photo nearby. The opening day of Where to Invade Next was the biggest box office of any of his films. Pulse has him booked at the Warfield in S.F. May 15. In case you miss him here.

EUCALYPTUS TREES AND SOME FACTS. Scroll below to read last week’s article by Gillian Greensite about Eucalyptus trees. She got a reaction…it said, “Not only do Australians never use the word ‘gasoline’ (we say petrol) but I have also never heard of any tree referred to as this in my 25 years firefighting experience. Further to this, spot fires are caused by embers blowing in the wind, so they occur in front of the fire, not behind it. There are a number of factors that affect fire spread, these include topography (mainly slope), aspect (north facing here in the Southern hemisphere), weather (wind, humidity, temperature) fuel moisture (how long since it has rained) and fuel load. The main concern with fuel load is the loose ground fuel or hanging fuel in the forest (smaller than 6mm). The way this is reduced sometimes is through a hazard reduction via scrub removal or a low intensity burning. Removing larger trees is counterproductive as it just allows the smaller shrubs to proliferate beneath, where they are normally shaded and slowed by the larger trees. The actual larger trees are not even considered in the fuel load calculation. If the ground fuel level is very high, this can lead to the fire spreading to the crowns of the larger trees, and then spreading as a crown fire. You don’t prevent this by removing the larger trees, but rather by managing the fuel load beneath the trees”.

Gillian responded and forwarded… “It says the author is an Aussie but I doubt it. No Aussie uses the word gasoline. To confirm this and other points, I sought the opinion of a firefighter in Tasmania just in case I had missed something. His response to my enquiry is below. He also shares some expert tips on fire safety under trees, including eucalyptus. I’ve emphasized his sentence about “gasoline trees.”  Your author’s comments on a number of points are not well-informed. I’ve included the comments from retired Fire Chief from Oakland, Dave Maloney. His comments debunk a lot of the myths about the “explosive” unique character of eucalyptus under fire. Most Oakland folks don’t want to replace them and they have been leading the fight against that campaign.  I lived under eucalyptus in Australia until I moved to the US in 1975. Nobody I knew hated eucalyptus or were scared of them. We took the usual fire precautions as you would living in any forested area. And, if a person is afraid of living under eucalyptus, why live there in the first place? Interesting how we’ve grown up believing the evils of Eucalyptii.

PATTON’S PROGRAM. Gary’s Land Use KUSP Reports include…

Capitola residents should be thinking about that “vision thing.” If you have some ideas about what Capitola should look like in the future, you will want to show up at a meeting scheduled for Wednesday April 20th. “Vision Capitola” is a grassroots effort,organized by former mayor and longtime business owner Gayle Ortiz. A workshop session will be held Wed. April 20 at 6:30 p.m. at the Jade Street Community Center. There will be another meeting, Wednesday, April 27th. At that second meeting, participants will discuss the results of the workshop being held this evening, and

will help prepare a report to the Capitola City Council. The “Vision Capitola” effort, in other words, is not city-sponsored; it’s a community effort that plans to deliver a message to the Council about what local residents are thinking, as they look towards the future. Here is what former Mayor Ortiz says, as quoted in a recent article in the Santa Cruz Sentinel: “Vision Capitola is about a positive visualization of where we’re headed as a community. It’s not about looking back or complaining. Let’s find out what we value and build a city that reflects that.” The key to success in this effort, Ortiz said, is participation. Hey, I think that’s my line, too! For more information, track down today’s Land Use Report blog at kusp.org/landuse.

How would you like more density in your residential neighborhood? The City of Santa Cruz has big plans for a lot more density and a lot more development along the City’s major transportation corridors. Find out how to plug into the process at kusp.org/landuse. I strongly advise you, if you live or work in the City of Santa Cruz,to pay attention to what the City is proposing. Pay attention and get involved, to be more specific!

What is being proposed is a change to the City’s land use regulations to allow five-story, and maybe even seven-story buildings along Mission Street, Ocean Street, Water Street, and Soquel Avenue. Parking would be limited, and both commercial and residential uses would be housed in the new, high-rise structures. A member of the City’s Planning Commission explains the program in a recent article in the Good Times weekly newspaper. The title of the article is quite appropriate: “Expansion Pack.” If you think local streets are already “packed” with traffic, and that the “expansion” of the UCSC campus, and other major developments, like a hotel in a residential neighborhood on Broadway, have already “packed” the City quite enough, get ready for a lot, lot more. Unless, of course, community involvement suggests that the City’s plans aren’t really what local residents want. No one is going to know what you want if you don’t get involved yourself! Read the complete scripts of the above at Gary Patton’s KUSP Land Use site http://blogs.kusp.org/landuse . Gary is a former Santa Cruz County Supervisor (20 years) and an attorney who represents indivuduals and community groups on land use and environmental issues. The opinions expressed are Mr. Patton’s. Gary has his own website, Two Worlds/365” – www.gapatton.net

OPERA AT THE DEL MAR. Santa Cruz opera fans now have another reason besides the Regal Saturday morning Metropolitan viewings to be happy. The new (4 months now) Landmark chain is bringing filmed

versions of live opera performances from opera houses around Italy to our Del Mar screen on Pacific Avenue. I can’t find many details and the production company All’ Opera Italia’s website is all in Italian. The spring series starts April 26 with Barber of Seville from Torino, Cerentola from Rome (May 25), La Favorita from Venice (7/27) that’ll be sung in French,  and La Fanciulla del West from La Scala on August 10.The rest of them are sung in Italian with English subtitles and start at 7 p.m. The usual Santa Cruz tuxs and tiara’s are expected. https://www.landmarktheatres.com/special-events-santa-cruz

SANTA CRUZ  LIBRARY CONCERT. MUNCHING WITH MOZART & FRIENDS presents “MOSTLY PIANO” concert with Roger Emanuels, cello and piano and Carol Panofsky, piano and oboe. They’ll be playing Mozart, Brahms, Gustavino, Saint-Saens, Haydn, Faure and Chopin. It is free and will happen Thursday, April 21st 12:10 – 12:50 Santa Cruz Public Library, Downtown Branch – Meeting Room. Coming Soon in the series is;  May 19: Rose Georgi, solo piano…June 16: Lars Johannesson, flute & Ann Thiermann, piano…July 21: Daniel Lewin, violin…August 18: Phyllis Rosenblum, flute and Laureen Herr, piano.

CLASSICAL DeCINZO. Dives deep into the Monterey Bay Aquarium…scroll downward.

EAGAN’S DEEP COVER.Tim looks at Hillary’s “best ……forever” see below.

LISA JENSEN LINKS…Lisa writes: “He’s been dead for 400 years this week, but William Shakespeare is still being performed, and enjoyed, with gusto. Join me in speculating why, this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com), as I suggest some of my favorite Bardic reinventions! Also, ready or not, here comes Game of Thrones—Season 6! ” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Go od Times since 1975.

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. I host Universal Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer, (live only or archived for two weeks… (See next paragraph) and go to WWW.KZSC.ORG. April 19 has Joan Van Antwerp describing Albee’s play “A Delicate Balance” now playing at the Center Stage (4/8-4/23). She’s followed by Laurie King, author of 14 Mary Russell (Mrs. Sherlock Holmes) mysteries detailing her Bookshop Santa Cruz new book signing on April 20. Andrew Austin tells us about UCSC’s latest development plans on April 26. followed by The Reel Work Film Festival’s Camille Walker. The bi-annual KZSC Pledge Drive happens May 3 with County Supervisor John Leopold co-hosting and Sandy Lydon co-hosts for pledges on May 10. On May 17 Brian Spencer from the See Theatre talks about T. McNally’s play, “Mothers and Sons“. He’s followed by Becky Steinbruner discussing Aptos issues and the legal measures in her lawsuit. Anita Monga artistic Director of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival (21st Year) returns May 24. Mark Wainer and Judy Johnson talk about the Community of Artists show on May 31st. The Short Story Winners from Bookshop Santa Cruz take over the June 14 program. Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening. Email me always and only at bratton@cruzio.com

NEW UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVE FEATURE. Stuff changes at KZSC a lot. If you missed either of the last two weeks of Universal Grapevine broadcasts go here… http://www.radiofreeamerica.com/dj/bruce-bratton You have to listen to about 4 minutes of that week’s KPFA news first, then Grapevine happens.

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES. In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 9 years here’s a chronological list of some past broadcasts.  Such a wide range of folks such as  Nikki Silva, Michael Warren, Tom Noddy, UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal, Anita Monga, Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson-Darrow, Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld, Rachel Goodman, George Newell, Tubten Pende, Gina Marie Hayes, Rebecca Ronay-Hazleton, Miriam Ellis, Deb Mc Arthur, The Great Morgani on Street performing, and Paul Whitworth on Krapps Last Tape. Jodi McGraw on Sandhills, Bruce Daniels on area water problems. Mike Pappas on the Olive Connection, Sandy Lydon on County History. Paul Johnston on political organizing, Rick Longinotti on De-Sal. Dan Haifley on Monterey Bay Sanctuary, Dan Harder on Santa Cruz City Museum. Sara Wilbourne on Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. Brian Spencer on SEE Theatre Co. Paula Kenyon and Karen Massaro on MAH and Big Creek Pottery. Carolyn Burke on Edith Piaf. Peggy Dolgenos on Cruzio. Julie James on Jewel Theatre Company. Then there’s Pat Matejcek on environment, Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack on the Universe plus Nina Simon from MAH, Rob Slawinski, Gary Bascou, Judge Paul Burdick, John Brown Childs, Ellen Kimmel, Don Williams, Kinan Valdez, Ellen Murtha, John Leopold, Karen Kefauver, Chip Lord, Judy Bouley, Rob Sean Wilson, Ann Simonton, Lori Rivera, Sayaka Yabuki, Chris Kinney, Celia and Peter Scott, Chris Krohn, David Swanger, Chelsea Juarez…and that’s just since January 2011.

QUOTES.      “Eucalyptus”

A city where everyone seemed to live in a bungalow on a broad avenue lined with palm, pepper or eucalyptus trees, where there was never any snow. Kevin Starr.

“My nose remembers more than my eyes. The sharp oily smell of eucalyptus combines with afternoon dust from the hockey field. But my heart feels the difference then and now.”
Phyllis Theroux

“I can’t be expected to produce deathless prose in an atmosphere of gloom and eucalyptus.”Gerald Durrell

“When I run in Ethiopia, I look out and see eucalyptus trees and rivers.”
Haile Gebrselassie

OUR HISTORICAL MUNICIPAL WHARF. This was opening day back in 1914. Cynthia Mathews and her own City Council want to develop our wharf into another Pier 39. Ask her about it. photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection. Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

                                                                                                    DATELINE April 11, 2016

OUR EVER CHANGING SUPERVISORS. Thank goodness our County Board of Supervisors are so flexible. Remember way back when…when Bruce McPherson decided he wasn’t a Republican anymore? Remember when Ryan Coonerty once was totally pro De-Sal and dumped it like a very hot potato when the wind blew the other way? Now we’ve got Zach Friend out politicking like crazy around every progressive event he can get to. One Bonline reader wrote…I have to wonder if Zach feels that Becky Steinbruner is a significant contender.  I would posit that all this outreach/making nice is about building a base for an office beyond Supe, like State Senator Bill Monning’s seat. It doesn’t seem likely that his wife would leave her position w/ the city to move” What’ll also be nearly amazing to watch will be Zach’s votes when they favor the environment over his developer friends projects. We will be equally enthralled when he favors homeless and civil rights issues over all his political pro-police background. Watch him closely.

ARE APTOSIANS UNITING? Did you get this email from “Save Aptos”?

“There is a scheduled community meeting regarding Rancho del Mar Shopping Center. As you may – or may not know, Terramar Centers has recently purchased the property and would like community input on the direction of the shopping center from local residents and businesses. This meeting is being facilitated by Zach Friend, our local Supervisor, and Bruce Walton vice president of Terramar Retail Centers, Carlsbad, Cal. Terramar welcomes your input, questions and concerns. Meeting date: Thursday, April 28 Time: 6:30  Place: Seascape Golf Course, meeting hall. Seascape Golf Club 610 Clubhouse Drive…Aptos, CA 95003. What’s odd about is that when you go to the Save Aptos website SaveAptos.com there’s nothing newer than 2014. Anybody who cares about the future of Aptos should be careful that this isn’t just another Terramar developers scam where they pretend to carefully note which businesses locals want in the Rancho Del Mar development (forget any theatre… Terramar tore down Aptos Cinema quicker than Zach Friend became progressive). So they take notes about which businesses and how’d the neighbors like Rancho to change then just like Barry Swenson Developers sell space to anybody (franchises,chains etc.) who have the bucks. And do take your own notes on Zach…has he really changed? Does he really care about the neighborhood? Maybe???

SANTA CRUZ CITY COUNCIL RACE. Words on the Street (read Pacific Avenue) have it that J.M. (Jim) Brown formerly of the SCSentinel has former Mayor Hilary Bryant working on his campaign. If you’re keeping track that means that Brown will be on the Cynthia Mathews side of the teeter-totter. Then we have Micah Posner shaving off his beard and talking much softer so we think he’s nicer than before. Micah like the recent development of Arana Gulch for example. Dru Glover has excellent stage presence, and has done lots of City homework. He’s one of Micah’s understudys as is Batya Kagan. Batya has made several good points about the Council’s (mostly Cynthia Mathews) ruthless attack and destruction of the Beach Flats Garden.

Watch this space!!!

FORMER MAYOR TO RUN AGAIN!!! I mean Kathie Beiers is going to run The Boston Marathon for the 12th time!!! She’s won a bunch of awards there just for being in her 80’s and she’ll win again we can be sure.

GET READY FOR THEM FORUMS. It won’t be long before we get plastered with promotions for “Meet your Candidates” kick-offs and forums. That’s a great time to ask them about such community issues as

1. Do they believe that Windening Highway 1 will work?
2. Would they vote for rent control?
3. Do they want a permanent arena?
4. Should there be a limit on campaign spending?
5. Ask them who on the City Council they would they vote most like? (that would be either Cynthia Mathews on the militant pro-growth side or  like Micah Posner’s side (when he doesn’t cave-in).
6. Ask them if they would vote for making our historical wharf into another Pier 39…do they believe tourists come here to see new commercialized wharfs/piers or something more authentic and unique?

STARBUCKS STILL COMING TO MORRISSEY SAFEWAY. Plans got held up because of flooring problems and the Morrissey Safeway will add that new Starbucks (which I wrote about weeks ago) sometime in the fall.

PURE PLEASURE MOVING TO COOPER STREET. Not only is Pure Pleasure moving from Church Street to that little store next to Laili Restaurant but newest rumors say that Amazon is moving into the top floor of that stucco replica of the Cooperhouse on Pacific and Cooper. Yep, Amazon!!! What in hell could a giant like Amazon do with that little space???

KUSP AND A CHANGING COMMUNITY. Isn’t it just possible that our KUSP radio listening community has changed in the last 44 years since KUSP started ? Isn’t it also possible that Peter Troxell’s idea of making the station into a luxury suite wasn’t such a supportable goal?

Certainly Am Radio stations continue to go through hell and FM stations like KPFA have had internal strife for decades. Santa Cruz has changed a lot. Pro-growth politicians and their “stop the commuting over the hill, build more unaffordable homes here”  campaigns continue to win.

There’s little “love our community” support our radio station feeling anymore. Not enough love and money behind that support. No family or identity feeling when you walk into KUSP like back when.  

ESPRESSIVO ORCHESTRA’S THIRD TRIUMPH!! Director and Conductor Michel Singher has almost single-handedly tapped into a large and growing segment of our community. There have been three concerts by the new (since Sept.’15) Espressivo Orchestra. Each concert has almost completely sold all available seats. They’ve done this by playing a bunch of selections from composers that the Cabrillo Festival (mostly living and visiting composers) and the Santa Cruz Symphony (large symphonic orchestra pop favorites) ignore. Composers such as Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Mahler, Ibert, Wagner and Hindemith have delighted an audience that has been waiting to hear more challenging stuff. Last week in the Colligan Theatre Espressivo played Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire and Stravinsky’s Soldier’s Tale. Here’s an advance warning that Maestro Singher gave us on Universal Grapevine in March. October 6th they’ll perform a work by Anton Webern and John Orlando will play a concerto by Leos Janacek and they’ll also play a Schubert Octet. That’s at the Peace United Church, and you know where that is. On March 30 they’ll do an All Yankee program. Walter Piston’s  Divertimento, John Adams Chamber Concerto (1970), Aaron Copland’s Applachian Spring, Charles Ives “Unanswered Questions” and Anton Webern’s Opus 10 also at 900 High Street. Go here to get more info, http://espressorch.org/concerts.html  but the new concerts probably aren’t announced yet.

PATTON’S PROGRAM. Hopefully Gary’s KUSP Land Use Brief will get online ASAP. He states…

The Santa Cruz City Council will weigh in Tuesday 4/12 on a classic confrontation.

Those who were around the City of Santa Cruz during the 1970s will remember the Frederick Street Irregulars. This neighborhood group organized to oppose a City plan to put high-rise apartments into their Eastside, single-family residential neighborhoods. The Irregulars won that battle, and a couple of Irregulars were elected to the City Council. By running for office, Sally Digirolamo and Carole DePalma changed the future of the city. You can read a brief history by visiting kusp.org/landuse

Maybe you’d like to get involved in making some history yourself? If you are an Eastside resident, or if you live or have a business on or adjacent to one of the City’s main transportation corridors (Mission Street, Ocean Street, Water Street, or Soquel Avenue), you should show up at the City Council meeting tomorrow, Tuesday, April 12th, at 7:00 p.m. A developer is proposing a high-rise apartment on the corner of Soquel and Hagemann Avenues, in a kind of replay of the type of Eastside development proposed, and rejected, in the 1970s. The City’s current planning efforts see this kind of development happening everywhere in the City. Show up at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday April 12th, at City Hall, if you want to get engaged in the discussion and decisionmaking. Check it all out here….Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog  The Leftmost City – History of Santa Cruz Politics In the 1970s          City’s Corridor Rezoning Website       City Council Agenda, April 12, 2016 Meeting .   Read the complete scripts of the above at Gary Patton’s KUSP Land Use site http://blogs.kusp.org/landuse.

Gary is a former Santa Cruz County Supervisor (20 years) and an attorney who represents indivuduals and community groups on land use and environmental issues. The opinions expressed are Mr. Patton’s. Gary has his own website, Two Worlds/365” – www.gapatton.net

CLASSICAL DeCINZO. One of my favorite DeCinzo’s see below….

EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. Goes deep into Mississippi politics for this one scroll down, just a few pages…and go here for Tim’s other opinions…

NEW MUSIC WORKS. April 16th. Phil Collins’ New Music Works presents…MAJOR KEYS of ASIA MINOR on 8pm, Sat. April 16, UCSC Music Center Recital Hall. It’s titled  The Spirit of Imagination Knows No Boundaries—Music & Peace: Views and notes from the Middle East. There’ll also be an Evening dialog with composer Eitan Steinberg & vocalist Etty BenZaken introduced by Philip Collins Friday, April 15 at 7 PM at Temple Beth El, Aptos. Read more at http://www.cysantacruz.com/#!The-Spirit-of-Imagination-Has-No-Boundaries/cugq/56e1b0fa0cf2e27c7640252b .

DISTINGUISHED ARTISTS. April 17.  John Orlando’s Distinguished Artists series presents pianist Misuzu Tanaka who’ll play…Schumann: Variations on the name “Abegg”. Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 30 in E Major, Op. 109.  Beethoven: Rondo a Capriccio in G Major, “Rage Over a Lost Penny”, Op. 129.  Prokofiev: Piano Sonata No . 2 in D minor, Op. 14 and Rachmaninoff: Selections from Preludes Op.23 on Sunday, April 17, 2016, at 4 PM at Peace United Church, 900 High Street. Tickets at http://www.distinguishedartists.org/MisuzuTanaka/   

SANTA CRUZ BAROQUE FESTIVAL. April 23. The Baroque Festival tells us, “We are coming to the close of our 43rd season! This final concert will celebrate Shakespeare’s 400th death anniversary. We will be featuring songs and works that highlight Shakespeare’s words. Elizabeth Hungerford will be joining us with her beautiful voice to honor this great historical figure. UCSC’s Lit Department will also be celebrating with a free event prior to our concert in the Recital Hall. It will have readings and presentations of Shakespeare’s works. It is a free event and open to the public. Together, these two events will be a fun way to celebrate Shakespeare through many different mediums of art”. They add….” Elizabeth Hungerford, Soprano,Hideki Yamaya, lute, and Linda Burman-Hall,on harpsichord will be our players.

Shakespeare and Experimental Baroque highlights cutting edge vocal, lute and guitar music from the 17th-18th centuries when much of Baroque music was controversial and new. Honoring William Shakespeare’s 400th death anniversary (April 23, 1616), our program opens with High Renaissance songs from Shakespeare’s plays and closes with High Baroque settings of Shakespeare texts. Experimental Italian songs that were considered radical at the start of the 17th century will form the center of the concert featuring ‘Canzonetta La Nonna’ by Tarquinio Merula. Later in the 17th Century, Purcell took Italian experimental chromaticism to heart in his heart-rending lament, The Plainte (O Let me Weep), from his own adapted version of Shakespeare’s ‘The Fairy Queen’. Elizabeth Hungerford’s clarion voice will illuminate Shakespeare’s words and bring them to life. Tickets available online at https://scbf.tixato.com/buy/ Ticket prices:  VIP: $30  General Admission: $20  Under 30: $16  Students and Youth: $5

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “Santa Cruz Shakespeare has a Midsummer Dream of its own for its upcoming 2016 season. Find out how you can be part of it this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com). Also, come sail the Cyber Seas with me as I talk about pirate books and movies on my very first podcast, at the website “Under the Crossbones!” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.

TO SEE OR NOT TO SEE

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. I host Universal Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer, (live only or archived for two weeks… (See next paragraph) and go to WWW.KZSC.ORG. April 12 has UCSC’s Matthew Lasar talking about his new book, “Radio2.0 : Uploading the 1st Broadcast Medium”. Then Phil Kramer of the Homeless Services Center gives us the scoop on their plans and accomplishments. April 19 has Joan Van Antwerp describing Albee’s play “A Delicate Balance” playing at the Center Stage (4/8-4/23). She’s followed by Laurie King, author of 14 Mary Russell (Mrs. Sherlock Holmes) mysteries detailing her Bookshop Santa Cruz new book signing on April 20. Andrew Austin tells us about UCSC’s latest development plans on April 26. Followed by The Reel Work Film Festival’s Camille Walker. The bi-annual KZSC Pledge Drive happens May 3 with County Supervisor John Leopold co-hosting and Sandy Lydon co-hosts for pledges on May 10. On May 17 Brian Spencer from the See Theatre talks about T. McNally’s play, “Mothers and Sons“. He’s followed by Becky Steinbruner discussing Aptos issues and the legal measures in her lawsuit. Anita Monga artistic Director of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival (21st Year) returns May 24. Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson talk about the Community of Artists show on May 31st. The Short Story Winners from Bookshop Santa Cruz take over the June 14 program. Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening. Email me always and only at bratton@cruzio.com

NEW UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVE FEATURE. Stuff changes at KZSC a lot. If you missed either of the last two weeks of Universal Grapevine broadcasts go here… http://www.radiofreeamerica.com/dj/bruce-bratton You have to listen to about 4 minutes of that week’s KPFA news first, then Grapevine happens.

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES. In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 9 years here’s a chronological list of some past broadcasts.  Such a wide range of folks such as  Nikki Silva, Michael Warren, Tom Noddy, UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal, Anita Monga, Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson-Darrow, Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld, Rachel Goodman, George Newell, Tubten Pende, Gina Marie Hayes, Rebecca Ronay-Hazleton, Miriam Ellis, Deb Mc Arthur, The Great Morgani on Street performing, and Paul Whitworth on Krapps Last Tape. Jodi McGraw on Sandhills, Bruce Daniels on area water problems. Mike Pappas on the Olive Connection, Sandy Lydon on County History. Paul Johnston on political organizing, Rick Longinotti on De-Sal. Dan Haifley on Monterey Bay Sanctuary, Dan Harder on Santa Cruz City Museum. Sara Wilbourne on Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. Brian Spencer on SEE Theatre Co. Paula Kenyon and Karen Massaro on MAH and Big Creek Pottery. Carolyn Burke on Edith Piaf. Peggy Dolgenos on Cruzio. Julie James on Jewel Theatre Company. Then there’s Pat Matejcek on environment, Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack on the Universe plus Nina Simon from MAH, Rob Slawinski, Gary Bascou, Judge Paul Burdick, John Brown Childs, Ellen Kimmel, Don Williams, Kinan Valdez, Ellen Murtha, John Leopold, Karen Kefauver, Chip Lord, Judy Bouley, Rob Sean Wilson, Ann Simonton, Lori Rivera, Sayaka Yabuki, Chris Kinney, Celia and Peter Scott, Chris Krohn, David Swanger, Chelsea Juarez…and that’s just since January 2011.

QUOTES. “WHALES”

“Nature did not put whales on this earth to splash kids while stuck in a pen”. Jane Velez-Mitchell.

“Many people cycle or swim to keep trim. But if swimming is so good for the figure, how do you explain whales?” Charles Saatchi.

“Ten percent of the big fish still remain. There are still some blue whales. There are still some krill in Antarctica. There are a few oysters in Chesapeake Bay. Half the coral reefs are still in pretty good shape, a jeweled belt around the middle of the planet. There’s still time, but not a lot, to turn things around”. Sylvia Earle.

“Ships are expendable; the whales are not”. Paul Watson.

TOM SCRIBNER THE MUSICIAN. (L to R) Tom Scribner musical Saw, Arlene Sutton accordion and piano, and Herman Olson musical saw and accordion. Because I’m receiving the first ever Tom Scribner Award this next Saturday I thought this would be a good time to share some of his two sided  history. Tom, Arlene and Herman made up “The Country Serenaders” and played many, many senior homes and benefits around the county for years. Tom’s colorful vest says, “The Lost Sound” and he had played the saw for fun and meeting people since 1910. He never “busked” or passed the hat. Tom wasn’t the greatest saw player in the world but because of his creating Santa Cruz’s annual Musical Saw Festival (this year is the 39th annual) we did get to hear many, many of the planet’s greats.                                                 photo credit: photo from my personal collection, courtesy of Tom Scribner) Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

DATELINE April 4, 2016

SANTA CRUZ DOWNTOWN HOSPITALITY HOST PROGRAM ENDING!!!

In spite of the favorable opinions from almost everybody those yellow jacketed Hospitality Hosts vanish as of June 30. As of right now it’s stated …because the contracts weren’t renewed. Paid for by Santa Cruz Businesses and property owners the program is run by the Downtown Management Corporation. The Downtown Management Corporation (online) has probably old data on it, with names like Ceil Cirillo, Bonnie Lipscomb, and Peter Prindle. Anyways we’ll miss those dedicated Pacific Avenue trekkers

TOM SCRIBNER & POLITICS. Tom cared much more about politics than the musical saw. Born in 1899, he was a tree cutter and very active with the Industrial Workers of the World. (I.W.W.). He moved here in the mid 60’s and from his home in Davenport he published a monthly/occasional  publication “The Redwood Ripsaw Review” and took on all comers, locally and internationally. Santa Cruz City Council members (Edler, Mahaney & Ghio) back in the late 70’s didn’t like Tom’s left-Socialist politics and fought hard to stop Marghe McMahon’s statue from being placed in SCOPE park next to the Town Clock in 1978. The square later became known as Scribner Square. The Square was later tagged for development and the statue was moved in front of Bookshop Santa Cruz in July 1993.

The Tom Scribner Award event is The People’s Democratic Club Fun-Raiser happening 3:00-5:00 p.m. Saturday, April 9 at the Live Oak Grange 1900 17th Avenue, Santa Cruz. Supervisor Zach Friend and PDC Vice-president Nora Hochman are emcees. And there’ll be music by Dr. Chris Ring. They’re having three partially crazy contests…

1. Best Dressed County Supervisor
2. Worst nightmare candidate of 2016
3. Best next U.S. President.

There’s also going to be awards given to Desal Alternatives for Achievement of The Year; Sherry Conable, Steve Pleich, Mathilde Rand and Gail Williamson for Unsung Heroes Award. I’m proud to announce, again, that yours truly is being awarded the first ever Tom Scribner Award. This most certainly is not for my musical saw playing, which I’ve almost given up entirely.

Donation at the door. For more information call 465-8272. Of course I’ll see you there.

DILIP BASU DIED. Dilip Basu was an amazing guy. We got to know each other before, during,  and after many Satyajit Ray film screenings that he spent much of his life collecting, lecturing, and restoring. He was UCSC Professor Emeritus in the Humanities division of The History Department. He worked on his book “The Last Poem” for ages. He finished it but we never got the chance to talk about it on Universal Grapevine (as I promised). Cathy Basu Shender wrote…

“Dilip passed away Feb 22nd, in Santa Clarita.  He was working on his Satyajit Ray Archive which was recently moved from UCSC to the Packard Humanities  Institute in Santa Clarita…David Packard will organize something in his  honor this summer at the Stanford Theater in Palo Alto.  Dilip died of TB as a result of the prescription drug Humira. Dilip developed rheumatoid arthritis and was given Humira by a Santa Cruz rheumatologist. He took Humira for the past two years here in Santa Cruz. Humira can lower a person’s immune system and cause many serious infections including TB and lymphoma.  Dilip became ill this fall with a “mysterious infection”. The doctors could not figure out what the infection was until after he died.  It turned out to be TB.  Dilip had TB as a child in India and was exposed to TB. Many Indians are exposed to TB.  So I am frankly very upset that he was given Humira in the first place, and also upset that for 4-5 months the doctors could not put 2 and 2 together. They kept coming up with e coli and samonella typii. He might have been saved had they treated him for TB when his infection and symptoms first emerged in early September. The details are complicated…and TB can be dormant and very elusive. People can test negative for active TB but can still have dormant TB which attacks and it can spread silently. As I mentioned we’ll all miss him.”

HUMANE QUESTION. Just exactly what is the difference (and how is it justified ) between the photos we see of the proud fishermen holding up their dead catches and hunters killing the same age “wild animals” out in the woods?  (don’t give me that LEGAL thing)

LEAH GARCHIK AND FUNNY NAMES. Having nearly a lifetime obsession with unusual names I sent this note to San Francisco Chronicle’s Leah Garchik…
Leah,

Just wanted to report in on a great name in today’s (3/30/16)  issue of the Santa Cruz Sentinel. In an article about new buildings being proposed near an agricultural zone…it stated ..

Juggy Tut, president of Elite Developments, which bought the property last year, remains patient despite the controversy. “We’re just taking it one step at a time,” he said. “Let’s see what the commission says first.”

I think Juggy Tut (I checked it on the Elite Development website) ranks up there with three other local Santa Cruz names I’ve collected….Cashmere Tango Obedience*, E. Pluribus Eubanks,and Fortunato Macadangdang. Leah replied almost immediately…”Thanks Bruce. I Googled Juggy. Looks like he’s a gentleman of East Asian descent. I’m a bit loath to make fun of someone’s name, especially from another culture.Nonetheless, thanks (and I hope you understand). Best, Leah.   * p.s. I met Cashmere Tango Obedience, who’s real name was Kashmiri Obediencia. He actudally changed it because he loved to tango!

PATTON’S PROGRAM. Gary states in his KUSP Land Use Broadcasts this week….

THE WATER, LAND USE & TRANSPORTATION ALL GO TOGETHER.
AT LEAST THEY SHOULD.

When development decisions ignore the availability of adequate water resources, long term impacts can be severe, and necessary corrections can be costly.

If developments are approvedwithout properly accounting for their traffic impacts, the community ends up with gridlock. The state of Highway One in Santa Cruz County is a good example. It’s not so easy to escape from gridlock once overdevelopment has created it, and necessary corrections can be costly.

The Monterey Peninsula is certainly finding that out!

This rule applies to transportation, too. If developments are approved without properly accounting for their traffic impacts, the community ends up with gridlock. The state of Highway One in Santa Cruz County is a good example. It’s not so easy to escape from gridlock, once overdevelopment has created it, and corrections there are very costly, too.

Providing robust transit services is one way to mitigate the transportation impact of development. Getting people to take transit significantly reduces the traffic congestion caused by everyone trying to get around in an individual vehicle. But what happens when transit mitigation measures are cut back or eliminated? That is the question that the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission will be wrestling with this week, Thursday 4/07.

The Transit District is making big service reductions because the District doesn’t have enough money to maintain existing bus routes. The City of Santa Cruz is concerned. If bus service is removed from major transportation corridors, there will be a lot more gridlock in the City of Santa Cruz, and on Highway One. Read the complete scripts of the above at Gary Patton’s KUSP Land Use site http://blogs.kusp.org/landuse.

Gary is a former Santa Cruz County Supervisor (20 years) and an attorney who represents indivudu als and community groups on land use and environmental issues. The opinions expressed are Mr. Patton’s. Gary has his own website, Two Worlds/365” – www.gapatton.net

CLASSICAL DeCINZO. Naturalist DeCinzo treks into butterfly politics…scroll downwards…

EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. Tim takes us airborne with guess who??? See below…

VAN ANTWERP THEATRE COMPANY PRESENTS…. A Delicate Balance by Edward Albee. Featuring: Ali Eppy, Susan Forrest, Ann McCormick, Brian Spencer, Janine Theodore and Frank Widman. It’s description….Wealthy couple, Agnes and Tobias have their complacency shattered when Harry and Edna, longtime friends appear at their doorstep. Claiming an encroaching, nameless “fear” has forced them from their own home, these neighbors bring a firestorm of doubt, recrimination and ultimately solace, upsetting the “delicate balance” of Agnes and Tobias’ household. “An evening of theatrical fireworks”   The New York Times.  Preview April 7th @ 7:30p. Performance Dates: 4/8,9,14,15,16, 22, 23 @ 7:30p, 4/17 @ 3p. Tickets:
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2514775

SANTA CRUZ CHAMBER PLAYERS CONCERT. The Players close their season April 9th and 10th with….“Blues and Rags to Riches”. Music by William Bolcom, Maurice Ravel, and Johaness BrahmsRoy Malan, artistic director and violin …Susan Freier, violin; Polly Malan, viola and Stephen Harrison, cello; Ian Scarfe on piano. From blues and rags to riches says it all; a journey from lightheartedness to profundity, at the tiller the creative guiding hands of three master composers. By 1910 Ravel was a famous man, which prompted a young George Gershwin to ask Ravel to teach him to write like he did.  Ravel answered by asking Gershwin how much money he had made from Rhapsody in Blue. William Bolcom’s homages to Jelly Roll Morton and James P. Johnson have become American national treasures.  Like other European composers of his period, Johannes Brahms was affected by folk and gypsy influences, which can be detected in the Scherzo of his Piano Quintet. But providentially for its performers and listeners, his main influence was simply Brahms himself.    

WHEN: Saturday, April 9th at 7:30 pm; Sunday, April 10th at 3:00 pm

WHERE:  Christ Lutheran Church, 10707 Soquel Dr., Aptos

TICKET INFO: $25 general, $20 senior, $10 youth Advance single tickets for all SC Chamber Players’ concerts are available at www.scchamberplayers.org

Single tickets are also available at the door 1/2 hr. prior to each performance

CUSTOMER INFO:  831.425.3149 or www.scchamberplayers.org

LANDMARK THEATRES & FREE PASSES!!! For at least ten years we’ve been awarding two free passes (Nickelodeon and The Del Mar) weekly to the first listener calling in with the correct answer to my movie question on KZSC’s “BushWhackers Breakfast Club” at 8:10am on Friday mornings, right after I do my weekly film critiques. It took a bit of adjustment but Landmark Theatres realized just how popular those passes and the program is and we’re back giving away passes. Thanks Landmark.

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “Find out what happens when fairy tales once again inspire an episode of Project Runway, this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com). Also, I Saw the Light doesn’t provide much insight into the astonishingly short, but productive life of Hank Williams, but at least Tom Hiddleston has presence to burn in the starring role.” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. I host Universal Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer,

(live only or archived for two weeks… (See next paragraph) and go to WWW.KZSC.ORG. UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. I host Universal Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer, (live only or archived for two weeks…
(See next paragraph) and go to WWW.KZSC.ORG. There’s no Universal G’vine on April 5 because KZSC is broadcasting Robert Reich’s talk at The Rio Theatre live that same night. April 12 has UCSC’s Matthew Lasar talking about his new book, “Radio2.0 : Uploading the 1st Broadcast Medium”. Then Phil Kramer of the Homeless Services Center gives us the scoop on their plans and accomplishments. April 19 has Joan Van Antwerp describing Albee’s play “A Delicate Balance” opening at the Center Stage (4/8-4/23). She’s followed by Laurie King, author of 14 Mary Russell (Mrs. Sherlock Holmes) mysteries detailing her Bookshop Santa Cruz new book signing on April 20.

Andrew Austin tells us about UCSC’s latest development plans on April 26. Followed by The Reel Work Film Festival people. The bi-annual KZSC Pledge Drive happens May 3 with County Supervisor John Leopold co-hosting and May 10. On May 17 Brian Spencer from the See Theatre talks about T. McNally’s play, “Mothers and Sons“. He’s followed by Becky Steinbruner discussing Aptos issues and the legal measures in her lawsuit. Anita Monga artistic Director of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival (21st Year) returns May 24. Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson talk about the Community of Artists show on May 31st. The Short Story Winners from Bookshop Santa Cruz take over the June 14 program. Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening. Email me always and only at bratton@cruzio.com   

NEW UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVE FEATURE. Stuff changes at KZSC a lot. If you missed either of the last two weeks of Universal Grapevine broadcasts go here… http://www.radiofreeamerica.com/dj/bruce-bratton You have to listen to about 4 minutes of that week’s KPFA news first, then Grapevine happens.

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES. In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 9 years here’s a chronological list of some past broadcasts.  Such a wide range of folks such as  Nikki Silva, Michael Warren, Tom Noddy, UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal, Anita Monga, Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson-Darrow, Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld, Rachel Goodman, George Newell, Tubten Pende, Gina Marie Hayes, Rebecca Ronay-Hazleton, Miriam Ellis, Deb Mc Arthur, The Great Morgani on Street performing, and Paul Whitworth on Krapps Last Tape. Jodi McGraw on Sandhills, Bruce Daniels on area water problems. Mike Pappas on the Olive Connection, Sandy Lydon on County History. Paul Johnston on political organizing, Rick Longinotti on De-Sal. Dan Haifley on Monterey Bay Sanctuary, Dan Harder on Santa Cruz City Museum. Sara Wilbourne on Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. Brian Spencer on SEE Theatre Co. Paula Kenyon and Karen Massaro on MAH and Big Creek Pottery. Carolyn Burke on Edith Piaf. Peggy Dolgenos on Cruzio. Julie James on Jewel Theatre Company. Then there’s Pat Matejcek on environment, Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack on the Universe plus Nina Simon from MAH, Rob Slawinski, Gary Bascou, Judge Paul Burdick, John Brown Childs, Ellen Kimmel, Don Williams, Kinan Valdez, Ellen Murtha, John Leopold, Karen Kefauver, Chip Lord, Judy Bouley, Rob Sean Wilson, Ann Simonton, Lori Rivera, Sayaka Yabuki, Chris Kinney, Celia and Peter Scott, Chris Krohn, David S wanger, Chelsea Juarez…and that’s just since January 2011.

QUOTES.  “WATER”

“For whatever we lose (like a you or a me), It’s always our self we find in the sea.” e.e. cummings

“Water does not resist. Water flows. When you plunge your hand into it, all you feel is a caress. Water is not a solid wall, it will not stop you. But water always goes where it wants to go, and nothing in the end can stand against it. Water is patient. Dripping water wears away a stone. Remember that, my child. Remember you are half water. If you can’t go through an obstacle, go around it. Water does.” Margaret Atwood

“You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water”. Rabindranath Tagore

OUR WIDE PACIFIC AVENUE JUNE 1964. This is looking North from about where the Metro Station is now. Yes, it’s the Miss California Parade. Mostly the photo is to remind all of us that none of the buildings on Pacific have ever been moved closer than they were back then. In the name of beauty, but mostly greed, we’ve narrowed the Avenue from the FOUR lanes you see here to the barely two lanes we still have on a few blocks.                                                     photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection. Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

DATELINE March 28, 2016

CITY DESTROYS PEOPLES GARDEN. Cynthia Mathews (Queen Regnant) and her well-trained, subserviant city council once again has bowed and bent over forward to the power of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk also known as Charlie Canfield’s  Seaside Corporation. Last Thursday March 24 bulldozers tore up the Beach Flat Gardens. So far I have seen only one color photo in the Sentinel, no article, no words, no reporting at all of this cruel and approved deed. Michael Gasser of the Beach Flats Community Garden Coalition wrote this NEWS release…

City Bulldozes Agreement With Beach Flats Gardeners

For Immediate Release: March 24, 2016

Contact: Michael Gasser
bfgc.outreach@gmail.com
(812-219-2296)

A bulldozer rumbled into the Beach Flats Garden early Thursday morning, tearing out mature fruit trees and nopales plants that city staff had earlier promised would not be touched, and damaging an already strained relationship between the City and community. Parks workers ripped out stakes and string marking out garden plots that had earlier been marked out by parks workers and gardeners. An orange plastic fence dividing the community garden from land to be taken over by the Seaside Company was moved some 30 feet back from the line originally promised to the gardeners.

If this action is allowed to stand, a total of 5 garden plots originally promised to the gardeners under a 3 year lease agreement will be ceded back to the Seaside Company, including one that  would have served as a children’s learning garden. The Seaside Company had previously committed to leasing 60% of the garden and this change would be going back on that agreement.

When contacted by garden advocates, interim Parks and Recreation director Mauro Garcia claimed the destruction of fruit trees and other plants was a ” mistake” due to “miscommunication.” Emilio Martínez Castañeda, a longtime gardener involved in the talks with city staff, was appalled by the destruction and blatant violation of trust on the part of Garcia. ” The city is going back on their word by moving the fence and removing plots,” Don Emilio said, through a translator. “As for the fruit trees, Mauro’s asking for forgiveness, but what good is forgiveness after they’ve been destroyed?” Garden advocate Irene O’Connell expressed disbelief that the destruction was the result of “miscommunication.” Frankly, I feel it’s an insult to be asked to believe that,” said O’Connell. “The latest actions make it apparent that the city never had any intention of true collaboration with the gardeners”.

Former Santa Cruz Mayor and city councilmember Chris Krohn wrote this… This is incredibly bad news I feel compelled to share with you. The City of Santa Cruz, led by an interim out of control parks and rec director, Mauro Garcia,  and Charles Canfield, aka Seaside Co./Boardwalk has bulldozed fruit trees and other plants at the Beach Flats Community Garden that they had previously said they would not touch. It is considerably more than the 40% they initially said they were going to take back. But more importantly, they had worked out an agreement with the gardeners not to bulldoze or take out any trees, nor take out fruit trees in particular until they had been harvested this year…but, they lied and came in this past week and clear cut the garden. Please let city officials (below) know that this is not acceptable. It breaks an agreement and brings real hardship to the gardeners. With hope that we can preserve this community garden…

Don’t Mourn — Organize! Here’s what you can do:

1. Share this post from our website on social media: https://wp.me/p6voYt-BH
2. If you are on twitter, tweet your thoughts to  @beachboardwalk,  @CityofSantaCruz and @jardindelaplaya, include #savethejardin
3. Call Seaside Company representatives and ask them if they approved the bulldozing of trees and going back on the promise to lease 60% of the garden. Emphasize that the Beach Flats Community Garden needs a permanent home!

KRESGE RUINATION…NOT NEW NEWS…. Last week I wrote about what I thought was a secret plot that UCSC had about basically knocking down the architectural award winning Kresge college., so they could add lots more beds for the announced 600 new students they expect. Then I found in my collection of City On The Hill Presses an excellent article by Georgia Johnson in the February 26, 2016 City O.T.H. It’s titled “Campus expansion slated for Kresge, Porter meadow and Family Student Housing” Read it here…

ELECTION YEAR FUN-RAISER. The Peoples Democratic Club (PDC) is having a big Fun-raiser at the Live Oak Grange on 17th Avenue Saturday April 9 at 3 p.m. Supervisor Zach Friend and PDC Vice-president Nora Hochman are emcees. And music by Dr. Chris Ring. They’re having three partially crazy contests…

1. Best Dressed County Supervisor
2. Worst nightmare candidate of 2016
3. Best next U.S. President.

There’s also going to be awards given to… Desal Alternatives for Achievement of The Year…Sherry Conable, Steve Pleich, Mathilde Rand and Gail Williamson for Unsung Heroes Award. I’m proud to announce that I’m being awarded  th e first ever Tom Scribner Award. Which most certainly is not for my Musical Saw playing, which I’ve almost given up entirely. Donation at the door. For more information call 465-8272. Of course I’ll see you there.

SANDY LYDON’S CENTRAL COAST SECRETS. If you’re new around here and don’t want to feel new, check out author, teacher, historian- non pariel Sandy Lydon’s website. It lists all the trips and tours and he throws in deep dark secrets about our local history. He’s got Santa Cruz County tours happening in April and May and another of his nearly notorious China tours happening in October. Go here…you’ll see

PATTON’S PROGRAM. Gary Patton reads and writes his KUSP Land Use Report…

The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commissionis also planning for a ballot measure. The SCCRTC, better known as the “Transportation Commission,” calls its proposed tax measure a “Transportation Improvement Plan.” The Santa Cruz County Transportation Commission is also shooting for a “compromise” mix of spending proposals. There are funds for a “Rail Trail,” and funds for local street improvements, and some funds for widening projects to address congestion on Highway One. So far, the Santa Cruz County proposal hasn’t reached a final “compromise” status. The Campaign for Sensible Transportation, in particular, doesn’t think that widening Highway One would be either a good “investment,” or any actual “improvement.” If you care, stay tuned and keep reading!

“We Are Aptos” has litigation on its mind!

I try to keep abreast of what’s happening in the land use arena around the entirety of the Monterey Bay Region. There is almost always something interesting in the works, or in the wings, and I try to pick a few of the most stimulating and important items to feature on these very brief land use reports, presented here on KUSP. My on the air comments do have to be brief, so I encourage listeners to check out the additional information available at kusp.org/landuse. In today’s blog posting, I have a link to an official court document, a complaint filed in the Santa Cruz County Superior Court by a group called “We Are Aptos.” This group charges Santa Cruz County with approving a final subdivision map for the Aptos Village Project without doing necessary environmental analysis, and without making sure that the promises of the developer, made in connection with gaining project approval, will actually be delivered by the project as constructed.  If you care about the future of Aptos, I think you might like to check out this complaint. Here’s what We Are Aptos says about its reason for filing the lawsuit: “This lawsuit is not intended to stop the development of the Aptos Village Project, but is … intended to ensure that all amenities and other Project components are implemented as promised.”

Read the complete scripts of the above at Gary Patton’s KUSP Land Use site http://blogs.kusp.org/landuse. Gary is a former Santa Cruz County Supervisor (20 years) and an attorney who represents indivuduals and community groups on land use and environmental issues. The opinions expressed are Mr. Patton’s. Gary has his own website, Two Worlds/365” – www.gapatton.net

CLASSICAL DeCINZO. De Cinzo presents an annual stage tragedy scroll downwards..

EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. Eagan’s concept of a fearsome three…see below…

SANTA CRUZ BAROQUE FESTIVAL.The Festival presents their fifth concert in this season…FIVE FANTASTIC FLUTES. They say, “Come get your Louis the 15th on! Boismortier was the first composer in history to write for the unique combination of five solo baroque flutes. The program also includes the popular London Trios by Joseph Haydn written in 1794. This performance features the entire flute section of the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra – Stephen Schultz, Janet See and Mindy Rosenfeld – joined by Bay Area flutists Lars Johannesson and Alissa Roedig, with Amy Brodo on cello.
Sunday April 3 at 4:00pm Holy Cross Church , 210 High Street, Santa Cruz.

Tickets probably/maybe at the door or ? 831-457-9693 ? E-mail ? P.O. Box 482 ? Santa Cruz, CA 95061.

APTOS KEYBOARD SERIES & APRIL 3RD. CONCERT. On Sunday, April 3, at 3 pm at Saint Andrew Presbyterian Church, 9850 Monroe Avenue, Aptos, the Aptos Keyboard Series will present the highly acclaimed 25-year-old Russian pianist Daria Kiseleva. Program Mozart: Allegro in B-flat Major, K.400 (1781) Rachmaninoff: Variations on a Theme of Corelli (1931) Intermission Ravel: Gaspard de la Nuit (1908) Ginastera: Danzas Argentinas (1937) All concert proceeds go to the artist. For more information or advance tickets please call Josef Sekon, Artistic Director of the Aptos Keyboard Series (831) 685 9169.

NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE’S “THE HANGMEN”. National Theatre Live has been bringing us the best live theatre in the world right to the Del Mar. “The Hangmen” following a sell-out run at London’s Royal Court Theatre, Olivier and Academy Award® winner Martin McDonagh (The Pillowman, The Cripple of Inishmaan, In Bruges) returns to the Del Mar with Matthew Dunster’s award-winning production of his deeply funny new play Hangmen, broadcast live to cinemas by National Theatre Live. In his small pub in the northern English town of Oldham, Harry (David Morrissey – The Walking Dead, State of Play) is something of a local celebrity. But what’s the second-best hangman in England to do on the day they’ve abolished hanging? Amongst the cub reporters and pub regulars dying to hear Harry’s reaction to the news, his old assistant Syd (Andy Nyman – Peaky Blinders, Death at a Funeral) and the peculiar Mooney (Johnny Flynn – Clouds of Sils Maria) lurk with very different motives for their visit. It plays March 31 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday April 3 at 11 a.m.

VAN ANTWERP THEATRE COMPANY. Presents Edward Albee’s “A Delicate Balance” It’s Coming April 7 to Center Stage at 1001 Center Street, Santa Cruz. Wikipedia says, “A Delicate Balance” is a play by Edward Albee. It premiered in 1966  and won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1967, the first of three he received for his work. The uneasy existence of upper-middle-class suburbanites Agnes and Tobias and their permanent houseguest, Agnes’ witty alcoholic sister Claire, is disrupted by the sudden appearance of lifelong family friends Harry and Edna, fellow empty nesters with free-floating anxiety, who ask to stay with them to escape an unnamed terror. They soon are followed by Agnes and Tobias’s bitter 36-year-old daughter Julia, who returns home following the collapse of her fourth marriage. It stars Ali Eppy, Susan Forrest, Ann McCormick. Brian Spencer, Janine Theodore, and Frank Widman, 4/7 @ 7:30p, plus 4/8, 9,14,15, 16,17, 22, 23. Tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2514775  

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “It’s all about books and food, this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com). My new novel takes one big step closer to publication, and I finally figured out how to upload my cool book trailer for Alias Hook that I promised a few weeks ago! Then discover the world, one meal at a time, in the fascinating foodie doc, City of Gold.” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.

TO SEE OR NOT TO SEE

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. I host Universal Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer, (live only or archived for two weeks… (See next paragraph) and go to WWW.KZSC.ORG. Michel Singher talks about the next concert of the Espressivo Orchestra on March 29. He’s followed by Jack Nelson relating the purposes and achievements of the Campaign For Sensible Transportation. There’s no Universal G’vine on April 5 because KZSC is broadcasting Robert Reich’s talk at The Rio Theatre live that same night. April 12 has UCSC’s Matthew Lasar talking about his new book, “Radio2.0 : Uploading the 1st Broadcast Medium”. Then Phil Kramer of the Homeless Services Center gives us the scoop on their plans and accomplishments. April 19 has Joan Van Antwerp describing Albee’s play “A Delicate Balance” opening at the Center Stage (4/8-4/23). She’s followed by Laurie King, author of 14 Mary Russell (Mrs. Sherlock Holmes) mysteries detailing her Bookshop Santa Cruz new book signing on April 20. Andrew Austin tells us about UCSC’s latest development plans on April 26. Followed by The Reel Work Film Festival people. The bi-annual KZSC Pledge Drive happens May 3 and May 10. On May 17 Brian Spencer from the See Theatre talks about T. McNally’s play, “Mothers and Sons“. He’s followed by Becky Steinbruner discussing Aptos issues and the legal measures in her lawsuit. Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening. Email me always at bratton@cruzio.com   

NEW UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVE FEATURE. Stuff changes at KZSC a lot. If you missed either of the last two weeks of Universal Grapevine broadcasts go here… http://www.radiofreeamerica.com/dj/bruce-bratton You have to listen to about 4 minutes of that week’s KPFA news first, then Grapevine happens.

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES. In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 9 years here’s a chronological list of some past broadcasts.  Such a wide range of folks such as  Nikki Silva, Michael Warren, Tom Noddy, UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal, Anita Monga, Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson-Darrow, Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld, Rachel Goodman, George Newell, Tubten Pende, Gina Marie Hayes, Rebecca Ronay-Hazleton, Miriam Ellis, Deb Mc Arthur, The Great Morgani on Street performing, and Paul Whitworth on Krapps Last Tape. Jodi McGraw on Sandhills, Bruce Daniels on area water problems. Mike Pappas on the Olive Connection, Sandy Lydon on County History. Paul Johnston on political organizing, Rick Longinotti on De-Sal. Dan Haifley on Monterey Bay Sanctuary, Da n Harder on Santa Cruz City Museum. Sara Wilbourne on Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. Brian Spencer on SEE Theatre Co. Paula Kenyon and Karen Massaro on MAH and Big Creek Pottery. Carolyn Burke on Edith Piaf. Peggy Dolgenos on Cruzio. Julie James on Jewel Theatre Company. Then there’s Pat Matejcek on environment, Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack on the Universe plus Nina Simon from MAH, Rob Slawinski, Gary Bascou, Judge Paul Burdick, John Brown Childs, Ellen Kimmel, Don Williams, Kinan Valdez, Ellen Murtha, John Leopold, Karen Kefauver, Chip Lord, Judy Bouley, Rob Sean Wilson, Ann Simonton, Lori Rivera, Sayaka Yabuki, Chris Kinney, Celia and Peter Scott, Chris Krohn, David Swanger, Chelsea Juarez…and that’s just since January 2011.

QUOTES.

“The air soft as that of Seville in April, and so fragrant that it was delicious to breathe it”. Christopher Columbus.
“Men are April when they woo, December when they wed. Maids are May when they are maids, but the sky changes when they are wives”. William Shakespeare
“Here cometh April again, and as far as I can see the world hath more fools in it than ever”. Charles Lamb

PACIFIC AVENUE DOWNTOWN SANTA CRUZ. January 29,1963. This is Pacific and Cathcart where Old School Shoes is now and where Taqueria Vallarta used to be and Five Guys Burgers is going in. Please note cars parked on BOTH sides of the Avenue, and plenty of room for at least two way traffic. NO STORES HAVE BEEN MOVED SINCE THEN. Now we want to add Parklettes? Restrict it to one way traffic? Somehow these changes are supposed to attract more business?   photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection. Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

DATELINE March 21, 2016

UCSC’S SECRET BUILDING PLANS. Back in the early days UCSC was referred to as “Uncle Charlie’s Summer Camp” now it’s Unfairly Crowded Student Campus or UCSC.

Times are really bad even desparate for students attending right now at UCSC. With tuition so sky high and required classes too full to admit the students who need those classes to graduate, many leave without graduating because they can’t afford to stay…and that’s tragic. UCSC administration has doubled and tripled bed space so much that students can’t study in their rooms and try to study in the library…but the library is so crowded there aren’t enough seats. That too is a shame on our State University. Note too that UCSC wants to admit 600 more new students. The admin isn’t sending them to UC Merced, nope – jam them into UCSC !!!

With plans to develop the area North of campus with 3 million square feet of buildings UCSC is now mapping, surveying and plotting to develop West Campus, That’s Kresge College, the Porter Cave area, the famed 420 West Meadow (that’ll attract 10-20,000 folks next month on April 20). UCSC is right now boring test holes in Porter Meadow, they are cutting trees, planning to eliminate the age old Trailer Park (long time traditional student dwelling). And the building of Colleges 11 and 12…all on the West side of campus. Right now most of the  students aren’t  aware of what’s going on. As usual, UCSC Administration will race this development all through the summer when there are fewer students to see the environmental and scholastic changes. BUT other students are aware and we’ll be hearing more from them soon. The largest question is how did California ever start allowing our once great University system to turn into this unfair monster?

ABOUT THE CHANCELLOR’S HOUSE. The Chancellor’s House is also known as the University House…and last week I suggested that just maybe since the Chancellor lives over the hill and commutes, that the house could be converted into about 30 student residences. Since then I’ve been informed that… “Effective Nov. 3, 2015  UC Santa Cruz has closed the University House, built in 1967, after determining that the campus will need to make immediate and significant repairs and improvements to have it meet modern standards”. Then it says, “A committee formed this past summer is evaluating the University House to see how it might better meet the needs of the university both as a residence and as a venue for events”. Let’s all guess what that means. By the way, let’s see a show of hands…who remembers the more than  $100,000 dog house and dog run that one of the Chancellors had built in the University House backyard??

OUR TRAFFIC TRAGEDY. The Campaign For Sensible Transportation sent this message…

Slash METRO Service And Spend $100 mil. on Highway 1?
Due to declining state support, Metro is facing a $6.5 million per year deficit. A portion of a proposed sales tax measure for the November ballot would reduce that deficit by $2.2 million. That’s not enough to prevent serious cuts in Metro service. Meanwhile the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) proposes to spend over $100 million in the sales tax measure on widening Highway 1, a downpayment on a larger highway construction project that Caltrans has estimated will have a “very slight improvement in traffic congestion”.

The Campaign for Sensible Transportation sent the following letter to the Boards of Metro and the RTC.

We believe that the current budgetary crisis at Metro calls for our leaders to step up to the challenge of prioritizing public transit in our County. Thus far, the Metro Board’s response to budgetary constraints is to create a service reduction plan. What we need is a Transit First Policy such as was adopted by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1973. If our community can decide to make public transit a priority, the long-term economic, social, and environmental benefits to our community will be profound.

The following are two steps that you can take immediately in your role as elected leaders to prioritize transit and reduce the need for Metro service cuts.

1. Increase Metro’s portion of the transportation sales tax for November, 2016. The 15% of the revenue allocated to Metro is inadequate. It would reduce Metro’s $6.5 million annual deficit by $2.2 million. To gut Metro service at the same time as allocating funds for an ineffectual widening of Highway 1 worsens social inequity in our County. This runs counter to our deeply held community value for social justice. The EIR on the Highway 1 projects estimates that the congestion relief for the proposed TSM Alternative will be “very slight”. The TSM Alternative is a much larger project than the widening project envisioned in the proposed sales tax measure. So there is no credible evidence that the smaller highway project that could be funded by the sales tax measure will have any measurable impact on traffic congestion.

2. Implement a plan for comprehensive Transportation Demand Management that includes free or discounted employee bus passes. For example, UCSC provides bus passes for employees for $10 per month. We urge you to campaign for a similar program at all large employers in the County as well as all businesses in Downtown Santa Cruz where bus passes could be funded by the Downtown Parking District.”. Get in touch with the Campaign and send emails to the RTC. Also note there will be a Metro Board Meeting, Mar 25, 8:30am: Presentation of Metro service reduction plan at the Santa Cruz City Council Chambers.

ERRETT CIRCLE. Most of the folks around Walk Circle (aka Errett Circle) are having an issue with the Garfield Park (new name) Church across the street.  “The new pastor since mid- to late 2015 is attempting to “clean up” the neighborhood. The Circle neighbors like the neighborhood as it is now. In addition to painting the church, he has installed about 20+ high intensity mercury vapor flood lamps around the perimeter of the building and in the courtyard. These lights are illuminating most of the houses on the circle all night long.  They’ve tried to talk to him and he’s been defensive concerning their installation but finally promised he would install shields (12/15/15). The neighbors have sent him mails and letters which go unanswered.  Talk around the Circle is that he has no intention of doing anything and thinks we’ll “get used to them” NOT! In desperation, one neighbor reported the situation to city code enforcement, and they responded promptly. He (the pastor) bamboozled them into thinking that he was installing them immediately (2 weeks ago).  If you’re in the neighborhood some evening, take a drive and check them out.  Almost like having our bedrooms lit up like a football field”. That was almost word for word what one neighbor/friend sent to me this week. Let’s see what happens. I’ll keep you informed.

MY NEW iPHONE & APPLE. Never in a million years would I have imagined that the Apple Corporation would be the easiest, nicest, most patient manufacturer I’ve ever dealt with. I’ve now had my Apple iPhone 6 plus for 8 days. It’s my first cell phone. In that week I’ve had two free one-on-one half hour sessions and a free Apple workshop in Los Gatos that lasted 2 and a half hours. It was extra long because of some extra linkage details to Cruzio, my ISP. Cruzio’s Chris Neklason was of enormous help too. iPhones are full of tools, treats, and services I never knew existed…and Apple does an amazing job of making sure you know how to use as much of it as you choose. Imagine Comcast coming to your house (free) and showing you how to use your hookup. Think about a new car dealer giving you free lessons on your new car features, think about any new purchase of a device that was complicated…get any help? I’m just impressed with Apple, that’s all and I’ve scheduled two more sessions this week. More than that, near the end of my Los Gatos workshop session at the Apple Store, in walks Rita Wadsworth so I knew I was still on this earth.

SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL (NOT PROFOUND, NOT DEEP OR HEAVY, JUST BEAUTIFUL) PHOTOS FROM MY COUNSIN DEAN.

Click here to see a gorgeous slide show of pictures from all over the world.

PATTON’S PROGRAM. Gary’s KUSP Land Use Reports contain such items as…

Lots of things are happening this week in the City of Santa Cruz!

If you care about the Santa Cruz downtown, and particularly about how automobile traffic flows, or might flow, or wouldn’t flow at all on Pacific Avenue, then you should be aware that there is a meeting this evening 3/21 of the City’s Transportation and Public Works Commission, and this meeting will probably have a big impact on what used to be called the “Pacific Garden Mall.” The Commission meets at 7:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. That’s tonight! The big item on the agenda is a proposal to change the direction of automobile traffic on certain segments of Pacific Avenue and related side streets, to facilitate <quote> “Southbound Wayfinding.”

I think this means that the currently somewhat complex traffic patterns downtown would be modified to allow Pacific Avenue to serve as a thoroughfare for people wanting to get to the Beach Boardwalk. That’s what “finding your way South” actually means, as far as I can tell. Some people want a total pedestrian experience. You can weigh in if you show up!

In other City news, the City Council meets tomorrow, Tuesday 3/22 at 1:30 in the afternoon, and will consider whether or not to allow the installation of exercise equipment on West Cliff Drive. If you like our West Cliff walkway the way it is, you should let the City Council know. And, of course, the opposite is true, too”

Gary continues…” Here is another meeting coming up on the Santa Cruz downtown! On Monday 3/21, the City’s Transportation and Public Works Commission considered a proposal to alter traffic patterns in downtown Santa Cruz. Current traffic patterns are designed to prevent cars from using Pacific Avenue as a thoroughfare to get to the Beach. If you have a car, and if you are in the downtown area, and if you want to get to the Beach, the best way to do that now is to use either Front Street or Chestnut, and Front Street is really the most direct route. This could change, and Pacific Avenue could become a more direct route out to the Beach Boardwalk. I’ll keep you posted. Meantime, if you have any preference about this, it’s time to start getting involved. One way to get involved would be to attend tomorrow’s meeting of the Santa Cruz Downtown Commission, and to let the Commission know what you think. The Commission will meet on Thursday morning, March 24th, at 8:30 a.m. in the City Council Chambers. There are links to more information at kusp.org/landuse. Besides hearing from the public under its “Oral Communications” item, the Downtown Commission will be reviewing the City’s Capital Improvement Program for 2016-2018. The infrastructure investments proposed for the next couple of years will have a big impact on City residents, you can be sure of that!

Read the complete scripts of the above at Gary Patton’s KUSP Land Use site http://blogs.kusp.org/landuse . Gary is a former Santa Cruz County Supervisor (20 years) and an attorney who represents indivuduals and community groups on land use and environmental issues. The opinions expressed are Mr. Patton’s. Gary has his own website, Two Worlds/365” – www.gapatton.net

CLASSICAL DeCINZO. DeCinzo, an experienced Cuba traveler gives us a sneak preview of recent policy changes. Scroll down just a bit.

EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. One step forward for Garland sez Eagan…see below a few pages.

MAH PRESENTS THE KINSEY COLLECTION OF AFRICAN AMERICAN ART & HIISTORY. Spanning 400 years of history, the Kinsey Collection reflects a rich cultural heritage. Includes work by Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence, and Richard Mayhew alongside archival material related to Frederick Douglass, Zora Neale Hurston, and Malcolm X. The MAH is providing free admission to this exhibition for all Santa Cruz County K-12 students, UCSC and Cabrillo College students. Just show your ID at the desk Feb 27-May 22, Tuesday-Sunday, 11-5, to get in for free. Note: Free Admission does not apply during Third Friday festivals.

SANTA CRUZ BAROQUE FESTIVAL.The Festival presents their fifth concert in this season…FIVE FANTASTIC FLUTES. They say, “Come get your Louis the 15th on! Boismortier was the first composer in history to write for the unique combination of five solo baroque flutes. The program also includes the popular London Trios by Joseph Haydn written in 1794. This performance features the entire flute section of the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra – Stephen Schultz, Janet See and Mindy Rosenfeld – joined by Bay Area flutists Lars Johannesson and Alissa Roedig, with Amy Brodo on cello. Sunday April 3 at 4:00pm Holy Cross Church , 210 High Street, Santa Cruz.

Tickets probably/maybe at the door or call 831-457-9693, E-mail info@scbaroque.org, P.O. Box 482, Santa Cruz, CA 95061.

VAN ANTWERP THEATRE COMPANY Presents Edward Albee’s “A Delicate Balance” It’s Coming April 7 to Center Stage at 1001 Center Street, Santa Cruz. Wikipedia says, A Delicate Balance is a play by Edward Albee. It premiered in 1966 and won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1967, the first of three he received for his work. The uneasy existence of upper-middle-class suburbanites Agnes and Tobias and their permanent houseguest, Agnes’ witty alcoholic sister Claire, is disrupted by the sudden appearance of lifelong family friends Harry and Edna, fellow empty nesters with free-floating anxiety, who ask to stay with them to escape an unnamed terror. They soon are followed by Agnes and Tobias’s bitter 36-year-old daughter Julia, who returns home following the collapse of her fourth marriage. It stars Ali Eppy, Susan Forrest, Ann McCormick. Brian Spencer, Janine Theodore, and Frank Widman. Preview 4/7 @ 7:30p, plus 4/8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17, 22, 23. Tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2514775

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “Coming this summer: Alias Hook makes its stage debut in an original production by Santa Cruz Parks & Recreation Teen Theatre! Read all the details this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com).” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.  

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. I host Universal Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer, (live only or archived for two weeks… (See next paragraph) and go to WWW.KZSC.ORG. . Brian Ragunan tells us about the UCSC Veterans programs and benefits on March 22, and then Chip from the Santa Cruz Downtown Association tells us what’s happening on Pacific and environs.  Michel Singher talks about the next concert of the Espressivo Orchestra on March 29. He’s followed by Jack Nelson relating the purposes and achievements of the Campaign For Sensible Transportation. There’s no Universal G’vine on April 5 because KZSC is broadcasting Robert Reich’s talk at The Rio Theatre live that same night. April 12 has UCSC’s Matthew Lasar talking about his new book, “Radio2.0 : Uploading the 1st Broadcast Medium”. Then Phil Kramer of the Homeless Services Center gives us the scoop on their plans and accomplishments. April 19 has Joan Van Antwerp describing Albee’s play “A Delicate Balance” opening at the Center Stage (4/8-4/23). She’s followed by Laurie King, author of 14 Mary Russell (Mrs. Sherlock Holmes) mysteries detailing her Bookshop Santa Cruz new book signing on April 20. Andrew Austin tells us about UCSC’s latest development plans on April 26. Followed by The Reel Work Film Festival people. Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening. Email me always at bratton@cruzio.com  

NEW UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVE FEATURE. Stuff changes at KZSC a lot. If you missed either of the last two weeks of Universal Grapevine broadcasts go here… http://www.radiofreeamerica.com/dj/bruce-bratton You have to listen to about 4 minutes of that week’s KPFA news first, then Grapevine happens.

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES. In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 9 years here’s a chronological list of some past broadcasts.  Such a wide range of folks such as  Nikki Silva, Michael Warren, Tom Noddy, UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal, Anita Monga, Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson-Darrow, Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld, Rachel Goodman, George Newell, Tubten Pende, Gina Marie Hayes, Rebecca Ronay-Hazleton, Miriam Ellis, Deb Mc Arthur, The Great Morgani on Street performing, and Paul Whitworth on Krapps Last Tape. Jodi McGraw on Sandhills, Bruce Daniels on area water problems. Mike Pappas on the Olive Connection, Sandy Lydon on County History. Paul Johnston on political organizing, Rick Longinotti on De-Sal. Dan Haifley on Monterey Bay Sanctuary, Dan Harder on Santa Cruz City Museum. Sara Wilbourne on Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. Brian Spencer on SEE Theatre Co. Paula Kenyon and Karen Massaro on MAH and Big Creek Pottery. Carolyn Burke on Edith Piaf. Peggy Dolgenos on Cruzio. Julie James on Jewel Theatre Company. Then there’s Pat Matejcek on environment, Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack on the Universe plus Nina Simon from MAH, Rob Slawinski, Gary Bascou, Judge Paul Burdick, John Brown Childs, Ellen Kimmel, Don Williams, Kinan Valdez, Ellen Murtha, John Leopold, Karen Kefauver, Chip Lord, Judy Bouley, Rob Sean Wilson, Ann Simonton, Lori Rivera, Sayaka Yabuki, Chris Kinney, Celia and Peter Scott, Chris Krohn, David Swanger, Chelsea Juarez…and that’s just since January 2011.

QUOTES. SPECIAL FLOOD QUOTES…

“The only thing that stops God from sending another flood is that the first one was useless”.  Nicolas Chamfort
“The flood of money that gushes into politics today is a pollution of democracy”. Theodore White
“Nobody’s strong enough to stand up under a flood of weak material”. Alan Ladd

SANTA CRUZ’S OPERA HOUSE 1877-1921.  Not just traveling operas but John L. Sullivan spoke there too. Plays and all sorts of culture happened there. It was hauled to Capitola and later demolished on June 7, 1961.                                                 photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection. Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

  DATELINE March 14, 2016

SANTA CRUZ MYTHS. Too many citizens/voters  not just in Santa Cruz just accept what local politicians, developers, tell them and vote accordingly..or support and trust those politicians in their desire to somehow improve our way of life. We hear these pleas and hear the myths repeated constantly in spite of the evidence that surounds us.

1. Growth Helps Pay for Social services (and brings in more business). We’ve all seen (and lived in) many towns and cities, especially in California, that have grown by leaps and bounds. Not one of them ever has actually improved the ever-lasting problem of not having an adequate Social Service system. From Capitola to San Jose, from Santa Cruz to Menlo Park, has any city established a better way to keep up their roads, schools, water and gas pipes  or feed their homeless or hungry ? Yet still we hear the Chamber of Commerces, Business Councils, and developers constantly encouraging growth. They also swear growth will mean more business for them, not admitting it also brings in more and larger competition, like box stores and franchises, that kill local business. It’s a proven fact.

2. Widening Highway One. The most obvious example of non thinking or failure to see the evidence is to hope that widening Highway One will help our terrible traffic jams. Along with that is the also odd thinking that adding auxilliary lanes “isn’t widening the highway” even though it adds new lanes. Where has widening highways ever worked? Ask your “pro-widening” friend or the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) for evidence that it has worked someplace. Santa Clara County and Highway 85 do come to mind. When highways are widened, traffic moves faster for a while then developers build new houses at the end of those highways and more people start using that widened section because it’s faster…then it too jams up, and everyone is back where they started. Literally.

3. Corridor Stacking helps …and is sustainable. This is one of the latest developer schemes to build and sell more apartments within city limits. Obviously Santa Cruz is about totally “built out” and still can’t provide “affordable” housing for any income level. So stack apartments on top of stores and call it “sustainable”. Aside from jamming more citizens per square foot in town the additional cars, the parking spaces, the noise, and the high rent or sale prices makes those neighborhoods poor places to enjoy life. These sales people talk about walking and bicycling around Santa Cruz. Aside from the statistically proven dangers from bicycling folks should realize  that getting from Costco or the Tannery to your City Hall or drugstore in Santa Cruz means miles and miles of life threatening traffic. Besides that our corridors Mission Street, Water Street, Ocean Street, and Soquel are simply ugly now. Just imagine those corridors stacked with Mark Primack buildings, which the City jumped at and supported. Go out to 2110 -2120  Delaware Avenue and see what his structures look like. Would YOU want to live near those?

VERY DEARLY DEPARTED. Louis LaFortune died Sunday  morning (3/13). In addition to being a dedicated brilliant host of years of Voices from The Village Louis was a wonderful human. He was a much loved teacher at New School High School in The Pajaro Valley School District. As a father, grandfather, singer, guitarist…he was nearly pure. He’ll be greatly missed.

VENICE, THE JEWS, AND SHAKESPEARE. Ghetto and foundry. In English Merchant

Sunday’s (March 13) New York Times had a fine feature article on the Jewish Ghetto in Venice, Italy. Firstly, it told how “ghetto” the word was once “getto” meaning “foundry”, but word experts disagree on where it started. The most interesting part of the article was that this summer a theatre group is going to present Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice” (in English!) right in the Ghetto where Shakespeare set it. Which I think is a giant step forward in appreciating Shakespeare’s genius and eternal appeal. I wonder if they’ll replace Shylock’s daughter role with some male actor. Do you think?? I see that the British film of Hamlet opens at the Del Mar on May 2nd. It stars Ms. Maxine Peake as Hamlet!!!She plays Hamlet as a young boy it says here. This gender-crossing thing is catching on.

VACANCY AT THE CHANCELLOR’S HOUSE? It probably wouldn’t work out, but one way UCSC could ease their campus housing problem would be to rent out the Chancellor’s house on campus. He commutes from over the hill anyways and I’ll guess that 30 students could triple up in there…just a thought.

PATTON’S PROGRAM.

CEMEX PLANT AND DAVENPORT TOURISM.

On the Consent Agenda of the Santa Cruz County Board Tuesday March 15, as Item #13, the Board is proposing to carry out a study, costing about half a million dollars, which would result in a plan to reuse the CEMEX property adjacent to Davenport. It’s possible that Davenport would become a major tourism center and the gateway to a North Coast National Monument.

Residents of the City of Santa Cruz should be thinking about going to a Planning Commission meeting.tomorrow night.

SANTA CRUZ CITY AND GROWTH.

The City of Santa Cruz Planning Commission is meeting this Thursday March 17, at 7:00 p.m. Review the Land Use Report blog at kusp.org/landuse for more information.

The Commission doesn’t have any projects on its agenda tomorrow night. Instead, the Commission will be looking at three major policy documents that set out goals and objectives that are intended to drive the City’s future growth and development. “Growth and development” is probably a pretty good way to put it, too. As listeners and readers may be aware, the University of California is planning big new growth on its Santa Cruz campus, and a lot of the impacts will hit the City. In general, I think it’s fair to say that the City itself has growth in mind. The proposed “Corridors Plan,” currently winding its way through a public process, would increase heights and density along Mission, Soquel, Ocean, and Water. The City’s General Plan pretty much goes along with that. The City’s Housing Element anticipates a significant amount of new growth, and the Climate Action Plan doesn’t suggest that Santa Cruz should be looking for a low-growth future. If you care about growth and development in the City Santa Cruz, the Planning Commission will be discussing the City General Plan, the City Housing Element, and the City’s Climate Action Plan at its meeting . Read the complete scripts of the above at Gary Patton’s KUSP Land Use site http://blogs.kusp.org/landuse . Gary is a former Santa Cruz County Supervisor (20 years) and an attorney who represents indivuduals and community groups on land use and environmenatl issues. The opinions expressed are Mr. Patton’s. Gary has his own website, Two Worlds/365” – www.gapatton.net

CLASSICAL DeCINZO. Reviewing the Boardwalk…think about it! Then scroll below.

EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. Another classic Subsconscious Comic!!! See downwards

MOZART, MUNCHING WITH. Every third Thursday at 12:10 pm in the upstairs meeting room there’s a free concert produced and directed by Carol Panofsky.  This Thursday it’s “What’s so great about classical music”, The Three Kinds of Music with John Orlando, speaker and pianist. His program is Domenico Scarlatti (1683-1757) Sonata in G Major, Longo 14…Isaac Albenez (1860-1909)…Iberia Suite, Book I: El Puerto…and Frederic Chopin (1810-1849). Nocturne in  Major, Op. 55, No. 2. It is absolutely free which means get there early.

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “Cultures clash and worlds collide along the Amazon in the haunting and powerful Embrace of the Serpent (shot in captivating back-and-white), this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com). Also, Maria Callas teaches a Master Class,  con brio, in the vibrant new Jewel Theatre Company production.” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. I host Universal Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer, (live only or archived for two weeks… (See next paragraph) and go to WWW.KZSC.ORG. March 15 has Dru Glover talking about the aims and goals of Project: Pollinate Santa Cruz Then Michael Tierra talks about the music of “The Northwest Passage” happening March 20. Brian Ragunan tells us about the UCSC Veterans programs and benefits on March 22, and then Chip from the Santa Cruz Downtown Association tells us what’s happening on Pacific and environs.  Michel Singher talks about the next concert of the Espressivo Orchestra on March 29. He’s followed by Jack Nelson relating the purposes and achievements of the Campaign For Sensible Transportation. There’s no Universal G’vine on April 5 because KZSC is broadcasting Robert Reich’s talk at The Rio Theatre live that same night. April 12 has UCSC’s Matthew Lasar talking about his new book, “Radio2.0 : Uploading the !st Broadcast Medium”. Then Phil Kramer of the Homeless Services Center gives us the scoop on their plans and accomplishments.  Joan Van Antwerp describes Albee’s play “A Delicate Balance” opening at the Center Stage (4/8-4/23). Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening. Email me always at bratton@cruzio.com  

NEW UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVE FEATURE. Stuff changes at KZSC a lot. If you missed either of the last two weeks of Universal Grapevine broadcasts go here… http://www.radiofreeamerica.com/dj/bruce-bratton You have to listen to about 4 minutes of that week’s KPFA news first, then Grapevine happens.

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES. In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 9 years here’s a chronological list of some past broadcasts.  Such a wide range of folks such as  Nikki Silva, Michael Warren, Tom Noddy, UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal, Anita Monga, Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson-Darrow, Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld, Rachel Goodman, George Newell, Tubten Pende, Gina Marie Hayes, Rebecca Ronay-Hazleton, Miriam Ellis, Deb Mc Arthur, The Great Morgani on Street performing, and Paul Whitworth on Krapps Last Tape. Jodi McGraw on Sandhills, Bruce Daniels on area water problems. Mike Pappas on the Olive Connection, Sandy Lydon on County History. Paul Johnston on political organizing, Rick Longinotti on De-Sal. Dan Haifley on Monterey Bay Sanctuary, Dan Harder on Santa Cruz City Museum. Sara Wilbourne on Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. Brian Spencer on SEE Theatre Co. Paula Kenyon and Karen Massaro on MAH and Big Creek Pottery. Carolyn Burke on Edith Piaf. Peggy Dolgenos on Cruzio. Julie James on Jewel Theatre Company. Then there’s Pat Matejcek on environment, Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack on the Universe plus Nina Simon from MAH, Rob Slawinski, Gary Bascou, Judge Paul Burdick, John Brown Childs, Ellen Kimmel, Don Williams, Kinan Valdez, Ellen Murtha, John Leopold, Karen Kefauver, Chip Lord, Judy Bouley, Rob Sean Wilson, Ann Simonton, Lori Rivera, Sayaka Yabuki, Chris Kinney, Celia and Peter Scott, Chris Krohn, David Swanger, Chelsea Juarez…and that’s just since January 2011.

QUOTES.

“We need Hawaii just as much and a good deal more than we did California. It is Manifest Destiny.” William McKinley

“There is science, logic, reason; there is thought verified by experience. And then there is California.” Edward Abbey

“The apparent ease of California life is an illusion, and those who believe the illusion real live here in only the most temporary way.” Joan Didion

“California deserves whatever it gets. Californians invented the concept of life-style. This alone warrants their doom.” Don DeLillo

“Dean’s California–wild, sweaty, important, the land of lonely and exiled and eccentric lovers come to forgather like birds, and the land where everybody somehow looked like broken-down, handsome, decadent movie actors.” Jack Kerouac, On the Road

THE ORIGINAL SANTA CRUZ PUBLIC LIBRARY’S DEATH. This was taken September 12, 1966. Even back then our City Council made stupid decisions. They destroyed this classic library and built what we have to live with now. It’s the same location…you can see the once upon a time funeral home complete with incinerator just across Church street.  Now it’s the Prophet Elias Greek Orthodox Church.                                                   photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection. Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

DATELINE March 7, 2016

CITY COUNCIL RACE UPDATE. If you scroll down to last week’s Brattononline you’ll see the first attempt at listing the “maybe” candidates for the upcoming Santa Cruz City Council race. You’ll see J.M Brown, Robert Singleton, Dru Glover and Gloria Nieto…so far.

Gloria “Glo” Nieto just informed me that she’s not going to run. She said she’s too involved with the Santa Cruz County Latino Affairs Commission. Steve Pleich (rhymes with “H” ) told me that he’s definitely going to run this time , and that he would have run as he usually does in the last election but other stuff got in the way. I’m betting we see plenty of changes in this list because I was informed many times that “we’ve got a great candidate but we’re just now either convincing them or clearing their backgrounds before announcing who it is”.

BICYLISTS DEATHS IN SANTA CRUZ. UCSC’s City On The Hill newspaper just gets better and better at reporting news we all need to know. Like Santa Cruz being drempt of and pictured as a bicyclists heaven. According to the March 3rd issue of C.O.T.H. in an article by Alex Wilkins it says, “The City of Santa Cruz was recognized as a “gold-level bicycle friendly community” by the League of American Bicyclists (LAB) last year, but the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), in its most recent 2013 report, ranked Santa Cruz first for number of bicyclists killed in California cities of comparable size”. Later in the article it says, “Rogerson pointed out that neither bicyclists nor drivers are solely to blame for bike incidents, but that both parties are normally at fault. Countywide statistics from a 2013 California Highway Patrol report show that 54 percent of the accidents were the bicyclist’s fault and the rest the fault of the driver.

Read it all here…

UC CHANCELLORS OTHER MONEY. In the March 4, issue of The Sacramento Bee there was an article  subtitled “UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi under fire for paid corporate board seats”. The article stated, “As a Sacramento assemblyman called for her to resign Friday, UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi apologized for accepting questionable corporate board positions and pledged to give $200,000 in textbook company stock to a scholarship fund for UC Davis students. The article then said, “She faced additional criticism Thursday after The Sacramento Bee reported that Katehi received a total of $420,000 in income and stock across the 2012-2014 fiscal years as a board member for John Wiley & Sons, a publisher of textbooks, college materials and scholarly journals. Her tenure came as students and state leaders sought to reduce the cost of textbooks and encouraged public colleges to use free, digital alternatives’. Beyond that, the SCTO.Bee has a list of UC Chancellors and the positions they hold on/in  other profit and non-profit organizations. It lists UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal as follows…

2013 Blumenthal, George R. Santa Cruz Chancellor Helius Education For Profit Member

2012 Blumenthal, George R. Santa Cruz Chancellor Helius Education For Profit Board Member

If you look up Helius Education, its headquarters are in Tampa and Phoenix. They work with kids in Arizona and Florida to further their education…and it looks just fine. Assemblyman Jose Medina, D-Riverside, chairman of the Assembly Higher Education Committee, called Friday for oversight hearings as the Legislature considers UC funding.”Chancellor Katehi’s paid positions with private, for-profit corporations raise important questions about UC’s conflict of interest and outside employment policies,” he said in a statement. “This information is particularly concerning in light of the positive strides that the state has made to increase funding for the system.”

Be sure to read the entire article…it’s tricky.

ONE MORE INTERPRETATION OF SHAKESPEARE Santa Cruz Shakespeare just announced its first season in the DeLaveaga Glen as featuring a woman playing Hamlet himself, along with Midsummer Night’s Dream and Orlando.What’ll they think of next???   Last year S. Cruz Shakespeare’s version of  Macbeth had more laughs than Monty Python, and some of us saw all or part of the all woman cast for Hamlet at our Center theatre a couple of years ago. Now can we look forward to The Monterey Bay Aquarium doing King Lear with an all fish cast?? Go to here..https://www.santacruzshakespeare.org  and check out the artist’s concept of what the new Glen theatre will look like, which isn’t bad at all.

HILLARY BRATTON TO SING IN REDWOOD CITY. Daughter Hillary Bratton has a band together and will be singing the songs from her new album “Tears on My Pillow but the Rest of the Bed’s OK” at The Club Fox 2209 Broadway in Redwood City at 7:30 this Saturday night. Go here for more info and tickets… . Her show at the Federal Bar’s Mimosa Series  in L.A. last weekend was jam packed and KCRW and WPKN played her album.

PATTON’S PROGRAM. From Gary Patton’s KUSP Land Use Reports for this week….

A local newspaper columnist is calling for a revolution at City Hall.

Jeff Mitchell writes a “Civic Chronicles” column for the Salinas Californian. In his column on March 4th, Mitchell addresses “Millennials,” those who are between eighteen and thirty-four years of age right now, and his message is nothing less than a call for a civic “revolución,” using the Spanish spelling. That’s “revolution” to the English-only speakers.

Exactly what, specifically, is Mitchell calling for, by way of this revolution? Well, it’s not guns! That’s some good news. In fact, the civic revolution that Mitchell would like to see is to have millennials “start participating in local government and community affairs.”

Now, there is a message I can definitely endorse. In fact, long time listenersknow that I’ve been advocating just this kind of revolution for a very long time, and Jeff Mitchell is absolutely right: civic engagement can have truly revolutionary impacts. There is a Presidential candidate, in fact, who seems to be saying the very same thing.

Jeff Mitchell is asking interested persons to contact him, so they can get an invitation to attend a March 16th workshop on how to obtain access to public records. I hope Millennials and others will take him up on this offer. Listeners and readers can get links to more information at kusp.org/landuse.  

Read the complete scripts of the above at Gary Patton’s KUSP Land Use site http://blogs.kusp.org/landuse . Gary is a former Santa Cruz County Supervisor (20 years) and an attorney who represents indivuduals and community groups on land use and environmenatl issues. The opinions expressed are Mr. Patton’s. Gary has his own website, Two Worlds/365” – www.gapatton.net  

SANTA CRUZ BAROQUE FESTIVAL. The next concert is titled , “Cutting Edge Bach & Beyond”. Power duo and Santa Cruz Baroque Festival favorites, Caterina Lichtenberg and Mike Marshall mandolinists  return with a new program featuring the timeless compositions of J.S. Bach. Hailing from classical European and traditional American music backgrounds, respectively, they bring a singular musical aesthetic to the Baroque . The concert happens  
Saturday March 12 at 7:30pm and Sunday March 13 at 3pm Peace United Church of Christ , 900 High Street, Santa Cruz.For info and tickets 831-457-9693 ? E-mail ? P.O. Box 482, Santa Cruz, CA 95061.

FELIX KULPA GALLERY. CID PEARLMAN PERFORMANCE presents rare dance performances titled “Economie of Effort: 3″at the main gallery. Show dates March 17-20 & March 24-27 7:30 & 9:30pm Free admission.Reservations suggested and entry is limited to 35 people per performance. Go to cidpearlman.org to reserve your spot. The F.Kulpa main Gallery is at 107 Elm Street by the telephone booth.

CLASSICAL DeCINZO. See below a few pages for an aquatic view of Monterey.

EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. Check out Tim Eagan’s blog for his “Trust Me Sucker” thought. Scroll low down for his classic Subconscious Comic….

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: ” Come along for the ride this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com), as my next novel passes another milestone en route to publication! Also, despite what you’re thinking, find out why The VVitch is NOT another cheesy horror movie.” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.  

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. I host Universal Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer, (live only or archived for two weeks… (See next paragraph) and go to WWW.KZSC.ORG. On March 8 Julie James and director  Susan Myer-Silton  discuss Jewel Theatre’s “Master Class” production, that’s the Maria Callas sessions on stage. Also on the 8th David Foster from Habitat For Humanity tells us about their new Senior Home Project. March !5 has Dru Glover talking about the aims and goals of Project: Pollinate Santa Cruz Then Michael Tierra talks about the music of “The Northwest Passage” happening March 20. Brian Ragunan tells us about the UCSC Veterans programs and benefits on March 22. Michel Singher talks about the next concert of the Espressivo Orchestra on March 29. He’s followed by Jack Nelson relating the purposes and achievements of the Committee For Sensible Transportation. There’s no Universal G’vine on April 5 because KZSC is broadcasting Robert Reich’s talk at The Rio Theatre live that same night. April 12 has UCSC’s Matthew Lasar talking about his new book, “Radio2.0 : Uploading the !st Broadcast Medium”. Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening. Email me always at bratton@cruzio.com  

NEW UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVE FEATURE. Stuff changes at KZSC a lot. If you missed either of the last two weeks of Universal Grapevine broadcasts go here… http://www.radiofreeamerica.com/dj/bruce-bratton You have to listen to about 4 minutes of that week’s KPFA news first, then Grapevine happens.

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES. In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 9 years here’s a chronological list of some past broadcasts.  Such a wide range of folks such as  Nikki Silva, Michael Warren, Tom Noddy, UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal, Anita Monga, Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson-Darrow, Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld, Rachel Goodman, George Newell, Tubten Pende, Gina Marie Hayes, Rebecca Ronay-Hazleton, Miriam Ellis, Deb Mc Arthur, The Great Morgani on Street performing, and Paul Whitworth on Krapps Last Tape. Jodi McGraw on Sandhills, Bruce Daniels on area water problems. Mike Pappas on the Olive Connection, Sandy Lydon on County History. Paul Johnston on political organizing, Rick Longinotti on De-Sal. Dan Haifley on Monterey Bay Sanctuary, Dan Harder on Santa Cruz City Museum. Sara Wilbourne on Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. Brian Spencer on SEE Theatre Co. Paula Kenyon and Karen Massaro on MAH and Big Creek Pottery. Carolyn Burke on Edith Piaf. Peggy Dolgenos on Cruzio. Julie James on Jewel Theatre Company. Then there’s Pat Matejcek on environment, Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack on the Universe plus Nina Simon from MAH, Rob Slawinski, Gary Bascou, Judge Paul Burdick, John Brown Childs, Ellen Kimmel, Don Williams, Kinan Valdez, Ellen Murtha, John Leopold, Karen Kefauver, Chip Lord, Judy Bouley, Rob Sean Wilson, Ann Simonton, Lori Rivera, Sayaka Yabuki, Chris Kinney, Celia and Peter Scott, Chris Krohn, David Swanger, Chelsea Juarez…and that’s just since January 2011.

QUOTES

“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass…It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”
Vivian Greene

“There is peace even in the storm”
Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

“The rain set early in tonight,
The sullen wind was soon awake,
It tore the elm-tops down for spite,
And did its best to vex the lake:
I listened with heart fit to break.
When glided in Porphyria; straight
She shut the cold out and the storm,
And kneeled and made the cheerless grate
Blaze up and all the cottage warm;”
Robert Browning  

AN EARLIER OUT DOOR THEATRE GLEN/GLADE. This historic photo is titled “MIRACLE OF THE TREES” and is dated May 7, 1949. I think Carolyn Swift told me years ago that this huge outdoor “theatre” was somewhere in Scotts Valley. photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection. Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

DATELINE February 29, 2106

CITY COUNCIL CAROUSEL. Secret meetings, pledges, pleas, quesses, denials, “and much, much more” all happening around and in Santa Cruz City limits as the merry-go–round keeps spinng to see who gets the brass ring and a seat or two at our City Council. Right now these names are best known as rumors…and subject to change, denial, or pleas for campaign funds.

One of the earliest names is J.M. Brown, formerly of the Santa Cruz Sentinel. He’s well liked and no one is sure of whether he’ll be on the Cynthia Mathews right side of politics or Micah Posners left progressive side. Robert Singleton is another oft-mentioned candidate. He’s a co-founder of Civinomics. He’s also an office holder of the Santa Cruz County Business Council a well known pro-growth, to hell with the environment, establishment club. Then too he’s a member of the Association of Realtors…so we know where he’s at. Gloria Nieto is mulling it over. A forceful feminist-activist,  her online credits list her as a garden consultant and house sitter. Dru Glover is mulling things over. He was born in Santa Cruz and, contrary to rumors, is no relation to actor Danny Glover. Dru would be the most progressive council candidate so far and is the director/founder of Project: Pollinate Santa Cruz go to www.projectpollinate.org to learn about their quarterly event on March 19 in San Lorenzo Park. All of above will change weekly, let me know if you hear of anything!!!

UCSC STUDENT THEATRE ACTION. On the boards right now (through March 6) is the UCSC Theatre Arts department’s production of “Marques: a narco Macbeth“. It’s Macbeth goes to Baja fights to control the drug trade and forgets Shakespeare. There are some brilliant creative and thought provoking moments in this production and some odd additions like the 10 minute scene of 6 or 8 G-stringed male strippers/dancers dancing for the Marques in a Gay Bar. Maybe that was when “Birnam Wood came to …”??? But if you like adventuresome theatre and want just occasional reminders of the original Macbeth, go see it. Not having heard a word or a press release or any references to UCSC’s Barn Theatre in years I was amazed when Adrien Centeno, the Barn’s managing director told us on the Universal Grapevine program that the Barn is very much alive and quite well and has all kinds of student productions happening nearly constantly. Go to the very out of date website http://barnstorm.ucsc.edu  and get some idea of their scope or better yet, go to this Facebook group page for weekly updates on Barnstorm productions. They also have a new website: www.ucscbarnstorm.weebly.com

If we called UCSC’s “Marques” “Macbeth in Mexico” we could call the just finished Barn Theatre play “WOYZECK IN COMPLETE”. I’ve seen Georg Buchner’s 1830 play Woyzeck done as an opera by Alban Berg about three times, I’ve watched Werner Herzog’s Woyzeck film many times, I’ve missed Tom Waits musical version, and on it goes. The Barnstorm Theatre version had an all female cast. (Remember a copule of seasons ago when we saw an all female cast do Hamlet at the Jewel theatre?? whew!). Lots of running, posing and way too much shouting instead of some deep dialogue, but still an adventuresome and creative student product. Watch the Barnstorm Theatre notices for plays we won’t see anywhere else.

GIRL SCOUT COOKIE RIPOFF…REVISITED. Yes I watched the Oscars when Chris Rock’s daughter and her G.S.Troop sold over $65,000 worth of that junk food to the millionaires seated at Dolby Centre last night. New readers should be aware that I’ve been campaigning against Girl Scouts selling cookies for decades. My main points are 1. The competitive internal bickering within the troops. 2. The amount of thievery it encourages from Moms being jailed for stealing $$$ in the drives (proof & data, upon request). 3. The cookies are junk food and why, IF it’s necessary to sell something, why not sell organic and/or useful or educational items? 4. Lastly, the vast profit that the Girls take on go to the corporate bakers/cookie manufacturers. Ah well. Check out this religious take about Girl Scouts…(From Daily Kos 2/22/16) In an article about how the Archbishop tells believers that their Girls shouldn’t go into Girl Scouts and churches should  be cafreful about letting troops use facilities then comes the part about Girl Scout Cookies…it says…”There is a licensing fee attached to each box of Girl Scout cookies produced, paid to GSUSA. Licensing fees paid to GSUSA on all trademarked Girl Scout items (cookies, Girl Scout curriculum books and badges, ice creams, coffee creamers, etc.) amounts to millions of dollars every year. (See: Does any of the money from cookie sales go to Girl Scouts of the USA?) On average, only 10-20% of the total cookie revenue remains with the troop selling the cookies. (See: How can I be sure that Girl Scout Cookie Program revenue supports the local Girl Scouts in my community?) We echo the statement of Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri, that it is important not to debate these issues with individual girls who are selling cookies. These conversations must “remain among adults”.

CHRIS KROHN Questions…

Attached is the budget report from UCSC 2015-16 if you haven’t seen it…lots of interesting tidbits like this one…they estimate that it is about $5,200 less to live off-campus than on-campus. (page 17).  I have to ask why that is…just makes no sense at all…I keep hearing too that there is a tidal wave of new students coming this fall. In addition the legitimate bed space has only increased by 376 in 8 years…(which I would predict is around how many beds the “Rental Inspection Ordinance” alone has taken out of circulation in town.) I say “legitimate” because “overflow bed-space” (on page 20 in the budget report) indicates that they’ve added 1520 beds not in any new buildings but in existing spaces…It’s been by doubling and tripling rooms and taking out any study lounges that used to exist. I spend a lot of time in the library and McHenry Library is a giant study lounge…it’s getting to the point of overcrowding—just packed–because, I conclude there are no places to study in the dorms any longer. It has an effect on the quality of education and student life. The report is here http://planning.ucsc.edu/budget/reports/birdseye (Chris is a former City Council member and Mayor of Santa Cruz. He sent this timely question…).

PATTON’S PROGRAM. From Gary’s thrice weekly KUSP Program…

IS GROWTH ALWAYS GOOD? LET’S THINK ABOUT IT!

In general, we tend to think that growth is “good.” Parents want their children to grow and thrive, and “thrive” and “grow” are almost synonyms in that context. We want our bank accounts to grow. That’s always a good sign. Presidents are always trying to get the economy growing, and I have always loved Bob Dylan’s take on that issue. Do you remember these lyrics?

Well, my telephone rang it would not stop
It’s President Kennedy callin’ me up
He said, “My friend, Bob, what do we need to make the country grow?”
I said, “My friend, John, Brigitte Bardot, Anita Ekberg, Sophia Loren.
Country’ll grow.”

Land use and growth are very distinctly related, and one of the premises of land use planning is that all growth is not good. Growth needs to be managed, and sometimes it even needs to be discouraged. Growing traffic goes along with job growth and new high-density development. Global warming impacts grow as the economy heats up. If you care about crops growing, and that’s a big thing around the Monterey Bay, then all sorts of new development and new growth put that agricultural economy at risk. Check out today’s Land Use Report blog posting, found at kusp.org/landuse, and think about that question: “Is growth always good?”

Check it out at   Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog or  Two Worlds – Is Growth Always Good? Read the complete scripts of the above at Gary Patton’s KUSP Land Use site http://blogs.kusp.org/landuse . Gary is a former Santa Cruz County Supervisor (20 years) and an attorney who represents indivuduals and community groups on land use and environmenatl issues. The opinions expressed are Mr. Patton’s. Gary has his own website, Two Worlds/365” – www.gapatton.net

CLASSICAL DeCINZO. DeCinzo looks at Student loans scroll below

EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. The Bully Pulpit updated see downwards…

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “I was 12 for 13 in my Oscar predictions this year. But as few surprises as there were in the show, we still have the “Return of the Oscar Barbies” to amuse us this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com).” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.

TO SEE OR NOT TO SEE

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. I host Universal Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer, (live only or archived for two weeks… (See next paragraph) and go to WWW.KZSC.ORGStuart Thornton and Eric Henze discuss their Monterey Bay travel books, “Monterey & Carmel” (it includes Santa Cruz) and ” Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park” and Wilder Ranch State Park on March 1. They’re followed by M. Sophia Santiago talking about her show of ” The Long View” being shown 3/4 -3/30. On March 8 Julie James discusses Jewel Theatre’s “Master Class” production, that’s the Maria Callas sessions on stage. Then also on the 8th David Foster from Habitat For Humanity tells us about their new Senior Home Project. March !5 has Dru Glover talking about the aims and goals of Project: Pollinate Santa Cruz Then Michael Tierra talks about the music of “The Northwest Passage” happening March 20. Brian Ragunan tells us about the UCSC Veterans programs and benefits on March 22. Michel Singher talks about the next concert of the Espressivo Orchestra on March 29. He’s followed by Jack Nelson relating the purposes and achievements of the Committee For Sensible Transportation. Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening. Email me always at bratton@cruzio.com

NEW UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVE FEATURE. Stuff changes at KZSC a lot. If you missed either of the last two weeks of Universal Grapevine broadcasts go here… http://www.radiofreeamerica.com/dj/bruce-bratton You have to listen to about 4 minutes of that week’s KPFA news first, then Grapevine happens.

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES. In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 9 years here’s a chronological list of some past broadcasts.  Such a wide range of folks such as  Nikki Silva, Michael Warren, Tom Noddy, UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal, Anita Monga, Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson-Darrow, Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld, Rachel Goodman, George Newell, Tubten Pende, Gina Marie Hayes, Rebecca Ronay-Hazleton, Miriam Ellis, Deb Mc Arthur, The Great Morgani on Street performing, and Paul Whitworth on Krapps Last Tape. Jodi McGraw on Sandhills, Bruce Daniels on area water problems. Mike Pappas on the Olive Connection, Sandy Lydon on County History. Paul Johnston on political organizing, Rick Longinotti on De-Sal. Dan Haifley on Monterey Bay Sanctuary, Dan Harder on Santa Cruz City Museum. Sara Wilbourne on Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. Brian Spencer on SEE Theatre Co. Paula Kenyon and Karen Massaro on MAH and Big Creek Pottery. Carolyn Burke on Edith Piaf. Peggy Dolgenos on Cruzio. Julie James on Jewel Theatre Company. Then there’s Pat Matejcek on environment, Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack on the Universe plus Nina Simon from MAH, Rob Slawinski, Gary Bascou, Judge Paul Burdick, John Brown Childs, Ellen Kimmel, Don Williams, Kinan Valdez, Ellen Murtha, John Leopold, Karen Kefauver, Chip Lord, Judy Bouley, Rob Sean Wilson, Ann Simonton, Lori Rivera, Sayaka Yabuki, Chris Kinney, Celia and Peter Scott, Chris Krohn, David Swanger, Chelsea Juarez…and that’s just since January 2011.

QUOTES

“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade”, Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

“Joy is not in things; it is in us”,Richard Wagner

“In March the soft rains continued, and each storm waited courteously until its predecessor sunk beneath the ground”,John Steinbeck, East of Eden

THE PEOPLES BANK, WELLS FARGO BANK, THE ID BUILDING, AND NOW THE SOCK SHOP. This is the corner of Locust and Pacific. January 4, 1965. As usual, I like to point out the width of Pacific Avenue back then. See the parked cars, and the line of cars driving south with plenty of room. That’s before cut outs, parkletts, and “lamb chops” were inserted. photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection. Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

DATELINE  February 22, 2016

BEACH FLATS GARDEN ISSUE.  Anyone who follows the political history of how the City Of Santa Cruz deals with Charlie Canfield’s Seaside Boardwalk Corporation knows that the ever greedy, monoply Boardwalk always wins. They win because The Boardwalk has more money and better attorneys than the City Of Santa Cruz. The City has always backed down in any possible confrontation. The Beach Flats Garden problem is a perfect example of Boardwalk greed added to City Council fear.

The Beach Flats Garden Coalition put out a press release on Feb. 1 among other things it said, “that the coalition urges the city to drop threats to the gardeners and try to seek creative solutions. The Beach Flats Garden Coalition announced it is organizing a community fundraising campaign to help the City of Santa Cruz purchase the Beach Flats Community Garden property. Neighborhood volunteers have spent over 20 years transforming this once derelict dumping ground into a verdant oasis, cited recently by researchers for its outstanding biodiversity and cultural significance. Meanwhile, the city has indicated it intends to fence off 40% of the site (well over half of the cultivated land) on Tuesday, February 2, and eject all but one of the current gardeners from their plots. In October, the City Council voted unanimously to negotiate purchase of the current site as a public park.  Current gardeners, as well as hundreds of community supporters, have spent hours in meetings with city officials in the effort to cooperate and support creative plans to save the entire garden. On January 25th, three gardeners delivered a letter signed by seventeen of their colleagues, saying they are “hoping and trusting in the work being done by the city to buy the land.” The letter, delivered in person to Ms. Shoemaker, stated that all gardeners who signed “wish to continue growing food here in the Beach Flats garden.”  

Community members now fear that City leaders are showing signs of backing away from their commitment to the garden. Despite the City Council’s October resolution to attempt to purchase the entire garden, city staff has not yet begun the negotiations process.  Instead, as expressed in an unexpected statement sent to gardeners on January 30, the City Council “has directed the City Attorney to prepare to initiate appropriate legal action” against them, ignoring the gardeners’ continued interest in gardening.
The Santa Cruz community is stepping up to help the Council achieve its promise. “At the moment, we are speaking with major donors who are interested in making matching grants. If every one of the 3900 people who signed the petition in support of the garden donates just $10, we will be able to raise a significant part of the purchase price ,” said Lynne Cooper, fundraising committee member.  “While this is just the beginning, we hope the City sees how excited we are to find a creative solution to this community need.” Cooper said the group plans to hold a fundraising kickoff event later this month. Garden supporters hope that the fundraising campaign will encourage the City to do just that. To contribute, go to https://www.everribbon.com/ribbon/donate/26087

CORRECTION TO AUXILIARY LANES…A WIDER VIEW. (Repeat from last week with added correction) It took me awhile but after hearing about the concept of “auxiliary lanes” as somehow being different or environmentally better than “Widening Highway One” the dawn came!! Look at the stretches on Hwy 1 that have had “Auxiliary  Lanes” added…it’s just a sneakier way of widening a stretch at a time. Don’t fall for it…keep attached to The Campaign For Sensible Transportation website…they’re on top of this battle to stop the drive to have that $$$ 450 Million Dollar $$$ Transportation Tax happen in November. Jack Nelson co-chair of the Campaign For Sensible Transportation emailed me right after the column went online. He said last Friday  and, at my invitation, wrote a correction on Monday it reads…”Your February 17 Bratton Online column reports CFST is opposing the $450 million sales tax proposal, but that’s not accurate.

We are challenging one piece of the proposal: the $100 million-plus funding component that would widen Highway 1 with new auxiliary lanes.  CFST supports having a local transportation sales tax measure considered by the voters, to include sustainable transportation measures that help reduce automobile dependence in Santa Cruz County along with providing funds to maintain the existing transportation system.  We’re asking the Regional Transportation Commission to move in that direction, instead of including funds for adding lanes on Highway 1 in projects that have been shown will not perform, either to provide long term congestion relief or to promote livable communities.

So, as you may see on our website at www.sensibletransportation.org, CFST supports a sales tax that would provide funds toward improving Santa Cruz Metro bus and paratransit services (and avoiding the looming cuts to service), transit on the rail corridor, safer/better routes for bicyclists and pedestrians including the rail-trail, and funds to local public works departments to maintain existing local streets and roads. You may view CFST’s Highway 1 slide show and sign our petition to the Regional Transportation Commission at our website.  We agree there’s a traffic congestion problem on Highway 1; the necessary question is, what’s smart to do about it, while not helping hand the children of the future a destabilized climate?’End of Jack Nelsons correction.

WHOLE FOODS… A RIPOFF. It’s an old (2015) article in Daily Kos…but I just found it. It tells of faulty labeling, illegal weighing, overcharging, and it goes on to say that the owner of Whole Foods thinks that climate change is A OK and that Obamacare is fascism. Why do Santa Cruzans support such businesses? Check this article…

Think Whole Foods is a ripoff? It’s worse than you thought.

OUR SOCCER PLAYER STATUE. M. Sophia Santiago revealed somewhere in her Facebook outings that our nearly hallowed Surfer Statue created byThomas Marsh was really modeled by a 21 year old soccer player in 1993. M. Maris stated that’s why his shoulder muscles are different from surfer shoulder muscles. I hadn’t noticed. Maybe from now on we should be hanging soccer nets around him instead of surfer type leis.

ACADEMY AWARDS & FILMS AS ART. Good or great films? I had about a two minute with long time friend Eli Hollander UCSC’s film professor a few weeks ago and I’ve been thinking about his  simple statement there are good films and there are great films. ( He convinced me that Anomalisa was a good not great film). We agreed that there were no great films this past year…and only a few good ones. That’s important, especially to me. I took about seven or eight years of film classes at UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz. I planned and researched for a cinema book at The American Film Institute, The Berlin Film Museum and the Academy of Motion Pictures, I see about 200 films on screens in Santa Cruz annually and another nealry 200 films at home. I enjoy the role of voicing my opinion on terrible, good and great films here and on KZSC every week. With the Academy Awards happening this weekend I just wanted to bring this up. Again this week friends are reacting to Son of Saul saying “it looks too grim”, “I don’t like sad movies” etc. To me that’s like saying I won’t look at Picasso’s  La Guernica, no Shakespeare tradegies, no Beckett, no Goya Disasters of War… films too are art. The most popular art in the world, ever. Like theatre plays, they aren’t real they’re only movies. Go see more good and great movies in spite of The Academy.

GIVING SAFEWAY/ALBERTSONS MORE PROFITS PER BAG. There were a lot of folks around our territory who were opposed to grocery stores like Safeway/Albertsons  being allowed to charge extra money for the shopping bags they used to give away for free. We’ll never know how much more money they are taking in from those shoppers who don’t bring their own environment friendly re-usable bags. Did anybody notice even a penny drop in shelf prices after the anti-plastic bag people won their battle?

HILLARY BRATTON TO SING…. Daughter Hillary sings this Sunday (2/28) in North Hollywood for those readers amongst you…who are in that neighborhood. The note states…Come join us for brunch and see and hear Hillary Bratton and The Mynabirds at the next Mimosa Music Series 2/28 at The Federal Bar in North Hollywood. Hillary will be performing with Barry Reynolds (Marianne Faithfull…) and Sebastian Sternberg. Her cool album, “Tears On My Pillow, but The Rest Of The Bed is OK” is produced by Anton Fier !Doors open at 11AM. More info on Hillary Bratton: here!

PATTON’S PROGRAM. Gary states on his 3 times weekly KUSP program…

In Monterey County, the City of Marina has an Urban Growth Boundary, established by an initiative measure enacted by the voters some years ago. I am pretty sure that Marina is the only city in Monterey County that has taken action to stop the kind of urban sprawl that is still all too typical around the state. Supposedly, each county’s Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCO, is supposed to set boundaries against sprawl, but in Monterey County, at least, that system has allowed cities like Salinas and Greenfield to annex and develop huge areas of agricultural land.

Santa Cruz County jurisdictions have taken a more positive approach to Urban Growth Boundaries. The City of Santa Cruz has a voter-approved “Greenbelt Ordinance.” Watsonville has also established a voter-approved line, to prevent sprawl, and of course the County’s Measure J Growth Management System, adopted by the voters in 1978, prevents the kind of unincorporated sprawl development that would undoubtedly have occurred in Santa Cruz County without the enactment of that measure.

In Santa Clara County, where sprawl was king for many years, keeping pace with precedents in Los Angeles and Orange Counties in the South, voters in Gilroy are now likely to get an opportunity to enact an Urban Growth Boundary for that city. There is a link to more information at kusp.org/landuse. Read the complete scripts of the above at Gary Patton’s KUSP Land Use site http://blogs.kusp.org/landuse . Gary is a former Santa Cruz County Supervisor (20 years) and an attorney who represents indivuduals and community groups on land use and environmenatl issues. The opinions expressed are Mr. Patton’s. Gary has his own website, Two Worlds/365” – www.gapatton.net

CLASSICAL DeCINZO. DeCinzo reveals our darker side…scroll below…

EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. Tim Eagan  detects a rampant case of elefantiasis and the Supreme Court…see downwards.

SANTA CRUZ BAROQUE FESTIVAL’S SECOND CONCERT. Their press release says,

“Santa Cruz Baroque Festival continues their 43rd season with The Bass Revolution. Rebecca Rust and Friedrich Edelmann, The San Francisco-Munich Trio, join us to perform High Baroque pieces in explorative and exciting new ways. The cello and bassoon will be the center of attention with their expressive “male” solo voices. 

The Baroque cello and bassoon (originally named the violoncello and dulcian) became passionate ‘male’ solo musical voices expressing a previously unsung heroism.  Experience how Bach, Vivaldi and other High Baroque composers opened new territories of expression through these instruments, that Mozart and Beethoven developed even further while musical sensibilities evolved to the Classical and Romantic eras.  Rebecca Rust and Friedrich Edelmann are the revolutionary upstarts, from the ranks of supportive orchestral musicians, to take us on this musical journey”. It happens this Sunday, February 28, 2016 at 3:00 pm in the UCSC Music Center Recital Hall, University of California Santa Cruz campus

Presented by the Santa Cruz Baroque Festival as a part of their 2016 Season, “Cutting Edge Early Music” and Tickets available online: http://www.scbaroque.org

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa again writes: “The underpinnings of a longtime marriage are revealed by subtle, seismic degrees in the fine-tuned 45 Years, this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com). Also, check out my predictions in this year’s (very limited) Oscar field.”

TO SEE OR NOT TO SEE

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. I host Universal Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer, (live only or archived for two weeks… (See next paragraph) and go to WWW.KZSC.ORGFeb.23 has Chase Sullivan telling us all about the Five Branches University. After Chase, UCSC dramaturg Adrian Centeno talks about “Marques”. That’s the Narco-Macbeth play running 2/26-3/6 at UCSC. Stuart Thornton and Eric Henze discuss their Monterey Bay travel books, “Monterey & Carmel” (it includes Santa Cruz) and ” Henry Cowell  on March 1. They’re followed by M. Sophia Santiago talking about her show of ” The Long View” being shown 3/4 -3/30. Michael Tierra talks about the music of “The Northwest Passage” happening March 20. Brian Ragunan tells us about the UCSC Veterans programs and benefits on March 22. Michel Singher talks about The next concert of the Espressivo Orchestra on March 29. Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening. Email me always at bratton@cruzio.com

NEW UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVE FEATURE. Stuff changes at KZSC a lot. If you missed either of the last two weeks of Universal Grapevine broadcasts go here… http://www.radiofreeamerica.com/dj/bruce-bratton You have to listen to about 4 minutes of that week’s KPFA news first, then Grapevine happens.

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES. In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 9 years here’s a chronological list of some past broadcasts.  Such a wide range of folks such as  Nikki Silva, Michael Warren, Tom Noddy, Anita Monga, Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson-Darrow, Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld, Rachel Goodman, George Newell, Tubten Pende, Gina Marie Hayes, Rebecca Ronay-Hazleton, Miriam Ellis, Deb Mc Arthur, The Great Morgani on Street performing, and Paul Whitworth on Krapps Last Tape. Jodi McGraw on Sandhills, Bruce Daniels on area water problems. Mike Pappas on the Olive Connection, Sandy Lydon on County History. Paul Johnston on political organizing, Rick Longinotti on De-Sal. Dan Haifley on Monterey Bay Sanctuary, Dan Harder on Santa Cruz City Museum. Sara Wilbourne on Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. Brian Spencer on SEE Theatre Co. Paula Kenyon and Karen Massaro on MAH and Big Creek Pottery. Carolyn Burke on Edith Piaf. Peggy Dolgenos on Cruzio. Julie James on Jewel Theatre Company. Then there’s Pat Matejcek on environment, Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack on the Universe plus Nina Simon from MAH, Rob Slawinski, Gary Bascou, Judge Paul Burdick, John Brown Childs, Ellen Kim mel, Don Williams, Kinan Valdez, Ellen Murtha, John Leopold, Karen Kefauver, Chip Lord, Judy Bouley, Rob Sean Wilson, Ann Simonton, Lori Rivera, Sayaka Yabuki, Chris Kinney, Celia and Peter Scott, Chris Krohn, David Swanger, Chelsea Juarez…and that’s just since January 2011.

QUOTES

“A film is – or should be – more like music than like fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what’s behind the emotion, the meaning, all that comes later”, Stanley Kubrick

“If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story”, Orson Welles

“A wide screen just makes a bad film twice as bad”, Samuel Goldwyn

“Cinema should make you forget you are sitting in a theater”, Roman Polanski